Paradise Lost
by Sulphurya
Summary: One final fight. One last battle. In the Promised Land, generations must fight together against old friends, old enemies and unknown traitors.Action, humor and romance. AeriSeph. RuTi. CidShera. JessieCloud. VincentOC. HojoLuc. The usual crew.
1. Prologue

**Paradise Lost.**

_(Disclaimer; characters are not mine. Just playing.)_

* * *

**1. Prologue.**

_Some time ago, in a kingdom far, far away, people lived in peace and harmony._

_They were a hard working people, who loved their land and their new king and queen._

_Then one day, a witch by the name Eva entered the country._

_She declared that she would be the new ruler of the kingdom and everyone had to bow to her._

_Neither the people nor the king agreed to this, of course, and the evil witch vowed that everyone who went against her would die._

_The king, Romanus, called in his loyal knights to battle the witch and protect the land they loved._

_Claude, Jamie, Sherman, Sunny, Reef, Crimson, Yoshi, Fawke, Garret, Maki, Seth, Lucius and Hauru. _

_Thirteen brave men. Sherman with his water dragon, Cilong. Sunny with his demon, Vale. Hauru the wizard. All brave men._

_But Eva heard about Romanus' plan and brought her servant, Seraphim, to fight the knights._

_As the knights, lead by the King himself, went out to battle the witch and her henchmen, Queen Teema pleaded for the Lady of the Forest to aid her husband and the knights. She prayed with a pure heart and with so much love in her soul that the Lady Aer took pity on her._

_Aer appeared before Seraphim and he was so taken in by her beauty that it broke Eva's curse which had made him blind to the witch's wickedness. Set free by the Lady, he swore allegiance to Romanus and joined the battle against Eva to repent for his past and win the heart of the fair Lady._

_The war lasted for seven whole days._

_One the final day, as Seraphim's sword pierced the evil witch's heart, peace was finally restored to the kingdom._

_The thirteen knights were all rewarded with riches beyond their wildest dreams._

_Romanus returned to his beloved Teema, and Seraphim was last seen entering the enchanted forest with Aer._

* * *

The children love this tale. 

Because it's just a fairy tale. Based on some truth, fair enough, but Marlene knows better.

She knows the real story behind all of it. The real names, places and dates. There was a time when everyone else did too, but fifteen years changes a lot and it erases memories even more.

It's been over fifteen years since they disappeared, sixteen years in a few months, and Marlene sometimes wonder if she's the only one who does remember.

They made a memorial statue of Meteor's victims, but they can't remember the real names of the ones who destroyed the threat.

Marlene doesn't blame the children for not remembering their parents, they were too young when it happened, only Dawn, Raito and Zefiris have vague memories, but she remembers her father very well.

She still has the picture of the three of them; her, Barret and Tarita, standing on the night stand.

She still remembers.

She just doesn't have any answers.

Her father was acting strange that last evening, like he knew what would happen and was reluctantly preparing for it. But if he knew, why didn't he tell her? Leave her a note?

Marlene sighs as the same thoughts which she has struggled with for fifteen, soon sixteen, years haunts her yet again. She almost wishes that Robin and Cid would start arguing as usual so she has to deal with something else. Maybe Zefiris has wrecked Raito's motorcycle again? Anything other than constantly going over these thoughts...

The second frame on her night stand contains a drawing she made fifteen years ago and Marlene picks it up with a sad smile. She looks at the stick figure woman with long brown hair and wonders if Tifa would be proud of her for keeping the family together. She would have taken care of the children too, like she did with Marlene.

The thoughts are suddenly interrupted, like she so desperately wished for, by a violent flash of light. A special kind of light. A kind of light that she has only seen once before. Fifteen years ago.

Running out of her room, Marlene runs towards the nearest quarters to hers; Logan's room.

"Logan!" But like she was terrified of finding, Logan's room is empty.

And so are all the other rooms in the house.

* * *

_AN; So it begins. Next chapter introduces new faces and brings back old faces! Oh, and big cookie to the ones who can actually name the real names of the knights in the correct order!_

_Now, onwards to the first chapter! -->_


	2. Rufus

**Paradise Lost.**

_(Disclaimer; characters are not mine. Just playing.)_

* * *

_AN;_ Okay, a little confusing at first, but it'll get better! I promise! The italics at the beginning of each chapter is a flashback moment of when our FF7 crew arrived in their current location, just to give a glimpse of what has happened, before it goes back to 'present' time. Questions and comments are greatly appreciated!

* * *

**Chapter 1; Rufus**

_It was dark and damp. Somewhere there was water dripping against stone. And so very cold._

_Rufus had no idea how long they'd kept him down there. He'd lost count of the days in the darkness, unable to tell night from day without any windows to guide him, but he was pretty sure it was somewhere between seven to ten days._

_Then again, it was getting harder and harder to be sure about anything anymore._

_Ever since arriving in the Promised Land, his dreams had stopped being dreams that came to him during the dark nights and turned into nightmares appearing at all times. Flashes and glimpses of things that made no sense and scenes that make horrifying sense._

_Rufus knew he was going insane._

_But his captors had made if perfectly clear that they intended to use these sights and he had the bruises to prove it. They would fetch him from this medieval cell and drag him to a bigger room, with people demanding to know what he'd seen and his guards ushering him to talk with fists and knives._

_He tried to tell them how it didn't work that way. Rufus didn't control the images. _

_But they never listened._

_Groaning softly, Rufus clutched his head as the world began to swirl and he heard the distant steps of his guards approaching his cell..._

* * *

"They're here." 

"Who?"

"The children..."

"What? Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"All of them?"

"Yes."

"I'll let him know. Let's just hope they don't get to them first..."

* * *

An almost silver sky spread as long as the eye could see, complete with a golden sun and not a single cloud, lush green grass on a plain as seemingly endless as the sky. This was the scenery which greeted the recently arrived. 

One moment, they had been living their lives in the busy city called Neo Midgar, the next minute; they were in a foreign place that neither of the confused souls had ever been in before.

"Okay, this is hopeless!"

The words echoed across the empty field and the young woman guilty of uttering them turned to face her companions. "Face it; we're lost! We got NO idea where we're going! This can mainly be explained by the simple fact that we got no idea where we are as well!"

"Calm down, Robin." Felix ShinRa requested wearily with a glance at his twin sister. They were all tired, frightened and in no shape for one of Robin's tantrums. He shared the blue eyes and fiery hair with her, but thankfully Felix possessed a calmer temper.

"Excellent advice. I suggest you take it, Cinderella."

Cid Jr, however, did not. And his short temper near Robin's short fuse was never a good idea.

As predicted, a huge fight broke out between the two, leaving them to scream into each other faces and the others to shuffle out of the way.

Eight young men and three young women. All, but one, orphans after their parents mysteriously disappeared one night almost sixteen years ago. The youngest of the eleven, Remy, was born eight months after the other children's parents disappeared and his mother said his father disappeared with them.

Logan, the youngest of the three ShinRa children, exchanged weary looks with Zefiris. He shared his siblings startling blue eyes, but had inherited his mother's dark hair and calm nature. "If those two doesn't kill each other soon, I might lend a hand." And possibly his father's venom.

Zefiris and Riku, the daughter and son of the infamous General Sephiroth, laughed softly with a strange feeling of gratefulness that at least something remained unchanged.

The arguing came to an abrupt halt when Felix raised his hand. "We got company." He nodded towards the figures approaching them at an alarming speed across the plains.

"Chocobos!" Robin exclaimed, shoving Cid aside, and moved over to her twin brother. "People on chocobos. Friends or foes?"

Raito pushed his younger brother Jamie back and automatically place himself between him and possible danger. "They seem to know where to find us. If that's a good or a bad sign, I don't know."

Dawn Valentine sent her younger brother, Frost, over to the Strife brothers as well before stepping up beside Felix and Logan, soon to be joined by Zefiris. "Doesn't hurt to prepare..." The dark haired daughter of Vincent Valentine let her hand hover by the gun strapped to her waist.

"I agree," Raito muttered, unsheathing a massive sword he'd found after his father.

Twenty nerve wrecking seconds later, the birds came to a scudding halt in front of them. Thirteen golden chocobos answering to what looked like thirteen soldiers. The one in the front that appeared to be the leader was a young man with black hair and grey eyes.

Reining in the restless chocobo, the man gave a wide, friendly smile. "Hello there! Sorry to have kept you guys waiting. Ran into a little... trouble."

Cid Jr crossed his arms and tilted his head, unknowingly taking on his father's favorite stance. "Yeah, and you are?"

Rolling his eyes at his own thoughtlessness, the man chuckled sheepishly. "Forgive me; I keep forgetting how many years it's been." He gave a slight bow. "My name is General Lee. I've come to bring you back to our camp."

Zefiris frowned. The name seemed to pull at a distant memory, but she couldn't quite remember what it was. And there was something about his face... Black hair and grey eyes; a Wutaian?

Felix gesticulated faintly. "Care to explain what's happened? Why we're here? Where 'here' is?"

Smiling again, Lee seemed amused by their suspicion. "I'll be glad to explain. Just climb on board and we'll head on back to camp. We can rest there and you can ask all the questions you want." He reached out his hand to Robin.

Hesitating, Robin glanced over at her twin and Felix could only give her a faint shrug. What choice did they really have?

No sooner did her hand touch Lee's gloved grip when a thunder shook the sky. The chocobos warked in fear and their riders had to use all their skill to keep the animals from running off. Clouds were suddenly rolling in from the distance; bringing lightning and thunder with them.

"Sir!" A soldier barely able to keep his chocobo stomping in circles instead off breaking out into a mad dash for safety. "Sir! He's coming, Sir! We have to go!"

Lee hesitated.

"SIR!"

Cursing, Lee released Robin and gathered the reins for his chocobo. "Retreat! Follow me!" He sent the newcomers a last look before leading the frantic escape away from whatever scared thirteen soldiers so badly they would abandon their mission.

A roar was heard from the clouds, far more terrifying and loud than anything they'd ever heard before, and lightning was reflected on a long, scale covered body.

Zefiris gazed over at Dawn, who in turn was glancing over at Zefiris. Same question in their eyes. Same distant memory...

"You can't just leave us!" Raito screamed furiously at Lee's back, growing further away by the seconds. "Get back here!"

Logan stared wide eyed at the dark, pulsating clouds and trembled at the unnatural growls filling the air. "We got to run..."

Dawn gave a faint smile. "It's okay." She calmly met Raito's disbelieving stare. "Remember?"

The blonde shook his head frantically. "I don't know what..." Another roar. A deeply buried memory. Raito's eyes widened. "No way..."

* * *

Riku laughed nervously and tugged at his older sister's arm. "Zefy, we need to move!" 

Shaking her head, Zefiris exhaled relieved. "I think we might finally be safe."  
Cid Jr huffed with disbelief. "Safe? In case you failed to notice, there is a huge ass monster on its way here to EAT us! And you wanna stay here and hand it napkins to go with the meal? Have you lost your frikking mind?"

At that moment, a huge creature bounded out of the dark clouds and roared its arrival to the world.

One look at the massive dragon shooting towards them, and everyone except Zefiris, Dawn and Raito, made a run for it.

Stopping a few meters away, Riku turned to see his sister just standing there as the monster approached. "Zefiris! Come ON!"

No reaction.

Frost stepped up beside Riku as well, for once his passive face filled with worry. "I hope they know what they're doing..."

Once the blue dragon reached the three standing there, it circled them a few times before it coiled itself into a standing position in front of them. Zefiris looked at the crystal ball kept gingerly between deadly claws and breathed a laugh.

There was so much about the past that she never knew whether they were dreams or real memories. The dragon was obviously very real.

"Long time, no see," Zefiris greeted.

A bright flash of light and a man now stood in the dragon's place. Grinning widely, he balanced the Venus Gospel on his shoulder and gave a slight salute. "Right back at ya." Cid Highwind then whistled and shook his head at the sight of the three in front of him. "Man, somewhere there's been one MAJOR mistake. I mean, look at ya'll! All grown up!"

Raito blinked. "And... that's a mistake?"

"Dang straight it is," Cid declared. "We've only been gone, what, three months now?"

Zefiris studied the older man, realizing that he did indeed look exactly as she remembered him. "It's almost been sixteen years, Cid."

"Sixt... WHAT?" The pilot stared at her before a fierce shake of his head. "No way. Nuh uh."

"Cid." Dawn gently called for his attention before he could enter into a rant of denial. "Where are we?"

Snapped out of his thoughts, Cid waved an absent hand. "The Promised Land. But you guys aren't supposed to be here!"

Zefiris smiled. "Well, here we are." Swallowing nervously, she had to gather her courage. "Cid... My parents... Are they...?"

"Oh, they're here." He nodded at Dawn and Raito as well. "Yep, yers too. Everyone is here." Then he realized the fact that there had been a bit more people there when he'd interrupted Lee's plan. "Uhm, weren't there... more of you guys, by the way?" Cid walked by them and saw the small group huddled a small distance away. "Whatchya standing there for? Well, come on then! We ain't got all day!"

There was no movement at first until Felix slowly made his way back and the others reluctantly followed.

Ushering them along, Cid was busy mulling over the entire three months vs sixteen years dilemma when he suddenly froze up. Staring at the young man in front of him, the pilot had a rare moment of being unable to talk.

Cid Jr tried a nervous grin. "Hello..." And was interrupted by a firm grip on his chin, having his face turned left and right, the subject of an intense study by his father. A study that abruptly ended with a bear hug threatening to squeeze the air out of them both.

Looking at the two, Zefiris realized just how much she wanted to see her parents again, and she didn't have to see the faces of the others to know they felt the same way.

* * *

"This way!" Cid marched ahead and grinned widely at the stares they got. "I got some people eager to meet ya'll!" 

They'd finally come to a small town with ages of walking and Cid refusing to answer any questions until they'd talked to the others as well. The pilot had latched on to his son and used the time for an intense quiz about the years he'd missed out on. When learning that Cid Junior had never been in a plane, Cid had sworn he wouldn't rest before he'd seen his son with his first wings.

Walking down between the rows of houses, mumbling a few words or reassurance to some of the people they passed, Cid pointed at only house with guards at the very end. "That's our field HQ, kiddies. Come on. Let's not keep them waiting longer."

As they approached, the guards went into full battle formation and only when Cid whispered something to the lead guard were they allowed to pass.

Seeing the worried glances exchanged, the pilot sighed. "We had a problem with security. Don't worry about it." He stopped to knock on a door.

"Yeah?" A female voice filled with tense suspicion.

"It's me." Cid paused. "I found them."

The door was yanked open and a dark haired woman with dark wine colored eyes stepped out. She cast a quick wide-eyed glance at Cid before turning to the new faces. Slowly raising her hands to cover her trembling lips, the woman made a faint sob.

The pilot leaned against the door frame and grinned widely. "Yeah, I know. A bit bigger than we expected them to be. Ain't ya gonna say hi, Tifa?"

The words had barely been spoken before Felix and Robin ran forward and Tifa had them in a warm embrace. Kissing, hugging and sobbing, she finally glanced over at the dark haired boy staring at her with an uncertain look. Smiling through tears, Tifa reached out an arm. "Logan..."

It was all it took. Logan rushed over as well and the three ShinRa children were finally united with their mother as well.

Raito felt a little ashamed at the violent sting of jealousy surging through him and turned his focus on Jamie, who probably felt even more lost in this scene. At least Raito could faintly remember their parents.

Waiting until the emotions calmed a little, Cid cleared his throat to gain Tifa's attention. "How is he?"

Dwelling a second longer on Felix, she finally straightened and gathered herself. "Been better. Been worse." Tifa automatically reached out and stroke a lock of Robin's hair behind her ear. "He's been waiting for you. Did everything go okay?"

"Yeah." The pilot crossed his arms and tensed. "The little brat was there when I arrived, but he ran for the hills the second he saw me."

"Who was that guy?" Felix gazed from his mother and Cid. "You know him?"

Tifa slid her arm around Felix' arm and tried a faint smile. "I'll tell you later. Right now, your father is waiting for you."  
"My... father?" Felix drew a surprised breath. "He's here?"

"Downstairs." Tifa nodded. "He'll want to see you all."

At that moment, Cid pushed away from the door frame and took a few steps towards the exit. "I'll send word to Strife." He gave his son a final punch in the shoulder, saluted Tifa and walked out.

Raito tried to hide his disappointment, but followed as Tifa lead them through another door and down some stairs. It was dark down there, only light up by a few torches and the flames in the fire places, but it felt more like a sanctuary than a prison.

It felt like they were keeping something **out**, rather than trying to keep something **in**.

Approaching the door, Tifa drew a deep breath. "Hey, it's me."

"You know the drill." An unfamiliar voice, brimming with hostility.

Sighing, Tifa stopped in the doorway. "The password is Emerald." She glanced back at the nervous faces behind her. "I got visitors, Reno. He's expecting them."

* * *

AN; I'm going to try out shorter chapters and faster updates. I hope you don't mind! ;) Next chapter is half-written and should be up real soon!


	3. Cloud

**2 Cloud**

_He'd been roaming the land aimlessly for two days now, with no idea where he was or where he was heading. All Cloud knew was that he had to find the others. They 'had' to be here somewhere!_

_A golden chocobo had approached him on a plain and the animal seemed perfectly content with the hard days of travelling in the desperate search._

_First, he heard rumors. _

_Everything from a man able to predict the future to an angel raising the injured from their beds._

_On the third day, he found her._

_He found the angel._

_A small group of men told Cloud about her and how she had saved all of them. Her hands had closed wounds and taken away their pain. Her gentle smile alone was a touch of bliss._

_Walking through the town, he didn't need anyone to tell him where to find her._

_He already knew._

_Cloud pushed open the doors and stepped inside. Seeing her standing there, white flowers caressing her ankles, his heart began to pound._

_When she saw him; a flicker of surprise in her green eyes, but Cloud couldn't fail to see her instant quizzical glance behind him to see if 'he' was there as well._

_Aeris closed her eyes in disappointment before giving him a faint smile. An angel in her church, surrounded by flowers, and the gift of life in her blood._

* * *

"So they're finally here..." A man stepped out of the shadows and into the doorway; with deep blue eyes, red hair, and crimson marks on his cheekbones. "Cid sure took his sweet time getting them here," Reno complained annoyed.

Tifa ignored him with ease and motioned for the others to follow her into the room. The Turk eyed each person to measure the threat they posed and started slightly when one of them remained behind to stare at him. "What are you looking at?"

Remy blinked, hardly able to believe his eyes, and swallowed hard. His mother never wanted to talk about his father, it seemed to cause her too much pain, so the only thing Remy ever knew about him were the red lines he'd tattooed beneath his eyes. How many people had tattoos like that? And not to mention Remy's own red hair and blue eyes.

Reno sneered at the lack of response. "Staring at people like a chocobo some kind of hobby you got?"

Remy just kept staring.

Stalking towards the boy, Reno decided to help him learn how much of a bad idea staring at the wrong person could be, but as he finally saw, really saw, the boy... Reno froze and stared back.

It was like looking into a mirror, sans the tattoo and with shorter hair.

"What the..." Reno finally stuttered. "Who ARE you?"

Remy flinched. "I-I'm Remy."

"Remy?" Reno repeated, even hearing the echo of his own name in it, but how was it possible? "Why are you here, Remy?"

"I... don't know."

Great. Reno hesitated before trying a new angle. "Okay then... What's your momma's name?"

This time Remy hesitated, but Reno's piercing glare was without any mercy. "Elena..."

The name was like a slap to Reno's face and a punch to his stomach. He felt sick, yet had to know. "And you dad? What's his name?"

Remy could see Reno knowing the answer even as Remy could only guess. "I... don't know. He left before I was born."

Shaking his head, Reno refused to believe it. "Is this some joke? A trick?"

"Remy?" Robin called out from the doorway.

Gazing over at her, Remy sent her a pleading look, but when he turned back; Reno was gone. Half hoping it was a mistake; he hesitated a few seconds before he followed Robin into the other room.

Everyone sent him puzzled looks, but Remy wouldn't meet any of them. His head was spinning and his heart was thundering.

Had he just met his father?

"One moment, I'll just..." Tifa's voice trailed off with an apologetic smile and she slipped behind yet another door. They heard her talking to someone and soon the door opened. Tifa sent them a second apologetic smile. "Sorry. He's been... unwell lately."

"I believe 'crazy' might be the correct term," a voice corrected her gently and Rufus ShinRa stepped into the room as well.

He looked painfully young, dressed in all white and with bare feet. His face was tired, his entire posture told of fatigue, but the brave smile was real enough. "Hello everyone."

Felix stepped forward. "Hey..." The man looked more like an older brother than a father, but he remembered that face.

A memory of playing with building blocks and rocking his son to sleep flashed in Rufus' mind.

Forcing it away, he moved over to greet his children. And Zefiris. Raito. Dawn. Introduced himself to the younger ones that did not remember him, especially Jamie and Frost. Chuckled at Cid Jr's resemblance to his father. Blinking at Remy's uncanny resemblance to Reno. But keeping a certain distance, as if getting too close was physically painful.

Finally, they were gathered in a living room area with a fire place, cups with hot chocolate and comfortable chairs. Tifa quizzing the children about their lives, Rufus observing more than talking, and finally Cid rejoined them as well.

Zefiris leaned back in her chair and took a sip from her cup. "So when do we get some answers?"

Cid and Tifa exchanged looks before they both looked to Rufus.

Staring at the floor, Rufus remained silent for a while longer, weighed down by the gazes, but finally he sighed and lifted his chin. "Okay..."

* * *

"We made a deal." Rufus pulled a hand through his hair and closed his eyes with a resigned sigh. "Three years after that deal, we all got sent here. Trouble was; we'd always fought in a team and we woke up in separate places. We had no idea where anyone else was, where we were or what to do. The first few weeks were spent looking for each other and trying to survive the attacks from the ones who did not want us here..."

Tifa gazed concerned at Rufus when he fell silent and gave his shoulder a light squeeze before picking up the story. "Most of us finally managed to gather in a town not far from here. A few... were not as lucky."

"Rufus here got a room in one of them first class hotels, alright," Cid muttered, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

Swallowing hard, Rufus straightened again. "We also discovered that materia did not work here. No magic. Instead, we found out about our... abilities."

"Abilities?" Robin asked curiously.

Tifa nodded. "Things we could do back in our world, they kind of... doubled here."

A sea of blank faces.

Biting her lower lip, Tifa hesitated before she got up. "Okay... Let me show you..." She walked over and picked up a big log meant for the fire place. Her eyes narrowed and she took a firm hold on each side before easily snapping it in two pieces.

Cid Jr was unable to keep his jaw from dropping. "Holy..." Robin's hand automatically flew up to cover his mouth, but her eyes seem to agree with the muffled statement.

Logan tried to appear unfazed and failed. "So you're all, like, really strong?"

Cid laughed. "Nah, only Miss Thang here."

Sitting down by Rufus again, Tifa slid her arm around his. "Our abilities are different from person to person and each one is specialized in some area. Like Cid and Panlong. Here they can change at will and not hurt each other, unlike back in our world. Reno controls electricity. Rude sees things that we cannot."

Felix didn't take his eyes off his father. "And you? What do you do?"

Rufus' smile was filled with something dark. "I see things too. Only I see them..." He tapped his temple. "...in here." Frowning absently, the former President ShinRa seemed to grow distant. "I see things happening... Things that has happened... Things will happen in the future... And sometimes, I think I see what 'might' have happened..."

Tifa and Cid suddenly looked worried and the dark haired woman forced a smile. "So you might say we're real super heroes here!"

Raito shifted uneasily. "And my parents...?"

"The infamous Cloud and Jessie Strife, eh?" Cid chuckled. "That kid throws a mean sword around, lemme tell you that! And Jessie, there ain't a lock she can't undo. Nothing broken that she can't fix. Me, her and Shera have been planning a plane for a while now!" He grinned at Cid Jr. "Your momma is gonna freak when she sees her precious boy all grown up!"

Riku waved an arm. "Tell me about my parents!"

Tifa smiled softly. "Your mother... Aeris is the only one who has healing powers here."

"A lot of people would've been gone without her," Cid agreed quietly.

Rufus suddenly got up. "We probably don't have much time, so we better get the story told right away. Lee will have told his masters that we have the children by now."

Tifa paled and wrapped her arms around herself.

Cid walked over to look out the window.

Rufus chose to stare into the fire place, letting the flames reflect in his eyes before speaking again. "There are a lot of people out there; wanting to kill us and anyone we care about. They want the Cetra to control the fate of our Planet. We disagree. The ones who are left standing wins."

* * *

It was a long story. From the very beginning, when the Cetra arrived to the planet, to when the planet's soul asked them to fight the self-proclaimed protectors as well as the Crisis. The shock of meeting the ones they had once fought and defeated before; Jinrei, Joy and Lee. Even Heidegger and ShinRa Senior!

A town by a massive mountain became their headquarters.

They named it Valhall.

Tunnels and caves seemed to go on forever into the mountain and it turned out to be the perfect hiding place.

"We should be ready to leave soon," Rufus mumbled, running a tired hand through his hair. "You'll see it for yourselves."

Felix and Robin exchanged worried looks, failing to see Cid and Tifa do the same, while Logan frowned. "You okay, dad?"

Breathing a laugh, Rufus shook his head. "Not really." He stared into the flames again and silence took up residence in the room until the door slammed open and it was rudely banished.

Reno stalked in to the room while carefully avoiding looking at Remy. "We're good to go, boss."

Yanking his son up on his feet, Cid grinned widely. "Shera is SO gonna freak when she sees your face!"

"You sure you're up for this, baby? We can leave tomorrow." Tifa gently cupped Rufus' face between her hands. She searched his eyes and felt the fear grip her heart once again. So much weariness and pain in the blue eyes looking back at her.

Rufus placed a hand over hers. "It's time to go. It's not safe here now."

"Hate to say it, but Top Dog is correct." Cid leaned heavily on Cid Jr's shoulder. "They know we're here now, thanks to Lee."

Tifa nodded, reluctantly admitting the truth, and automatically gathered her hair into a ponytail. "It's a good five hour ride to Valhall. I know you children are tired, but it'll be worth it."

Zefiris got up and tried a smile. "Don't worry about us. We can take it."

"Yeah," Raito chimed in. "Besides, we want to meet our parents too."

Following Reno outside, they found a small pack of golden chocobos waiting patiently and climbed on the big birds. Sharing a bird, Tifa slid her arms around Rufus as he seemingly never got really used to riding a chocobo, and she smiled slightly at Cid Jr and Robin bickering over a bird. It felt good to be smiling again...

"Last man to Valhall is a booger!" Cid declared and dug his heels into his startled chocobo with a firm grip on the reins of his son's chocobo as well.

Reno cursed angrily. "Dammit, man! That's cheating!" And the red-head went into a wild chase after them.

Sighing as the rest of the children followed with excited cries as well, Rufus flipped his hair. "Should I be worried that my bodyguard acts like a three year old?"

Tifa giggled against his shoulder. "Let him play. I'll guard you myself." She let her lips brush by his neck. "I'll guard you 'very' closely..."

Raising his eyebrows, Rufus straightened slightly. "As if I would ever deny Reno fun..." With a light kick, Tifa made their chocobo follow the others in a slightly slower pace.

The brunette noticed her co-rider quickly turned distant in his eyes and allowed her own mind to wander for once. Meeting the twins and Logan again had stirred feelings she had been forced to bury. There was no time for affection in the Promised Land and certainly no room for dwelling on memories.

Cloud and Jessie would be so happy to see their sons again. Shera had wished for nothing more than to see her boy again since her arrival. Tifa would make sure Elena's son would not feel left out herself, but it was the remaining four children which she worried about.

Up until now, every day had been a fight for survival.

It was time to start fighting to win.

* * *

_AN; Ack, been sick, thus late update, but been writing from my sick-bed, so next update should be either tomorrow or the next day! w00t!_


	4. Cid

**3. CID**

"_They're still following us!" Reno 'whispered' after a quick glance over his shoulder._

_Cid frowned. "Just... keep walking!"_

_An entire week in this place after waking up in the middle of nowhere, and now he was stuck with Reno and two weird chocobos! He should never have stopped by that run-down town. Then again, it was better to have a side-kick, even Reno, than milling around aimlessly looking for the others._

_(And he had a faint idea that Reno felt the same way.)_

_So, yeah, Reno he could deal with. Cid could even handle being stuck in the middle of Planet knows where! It was the chocobos that were the final straw._

_Leaving the town with the red-head in tow, Cid found it hard to ignore the two huge birds that were suddenly stalking them. Two big-ass, golden chocobos. And the pilot found himself forced to do what he did best with strange situations; he did his best to ignore them._

_Reno peeked again. "Hey, you don't think they're tame, do ya? Maybe they're here to help?"_

_Snorting, Cid rolled his eyes. "They're birds, Reno."_

"_Yeah, but..."  
"They're. BIRDS!" Cid scoffed haughtily. "They don't go out on secret missions, you idiot. Just ignore them."_

_Behind them, the two chocobos exchanged exasperated looks and continued to follow with a weak hope that sense would seep in eventually._

* * *

"You cut me off!" Robin yelled angrily and wished with all her heart that she had something she could throw at Cid Jr's smug face! "You cheated!" 

Reining in his chocobo to move it at a safe distance from the furious girl, Cid Jr laughed. "Sore loser, as always!" It was his fault that she couldn't take a little shoulder to shoulder racing.

"I didn't lose, and you're a stinking cheater!" Robin fumed. She kicked at her chocobo to make it move over within punching range of aforementioned smug face, but everyone froze when Cid flung out an arm to signal quiet.

Tifa's own smile vanished instantly. "Cid, what's wrong?"  
The man who'd barely stopped smiling since he'd met his son was staring at the horizon with a grim look. "Incoming."

Two figures on chocobo were approaching at an alarming pace. The riders wore dark maroon colored capes with high collars, covering most of their faces, and hoods shaded whatever might have been seen.

Logan cast a quick glance at Tifa. "Friend or foe?"

"I don't know," she whispered, clearly anxious at the sight, and Cid slowly moved his hand over to rest on the hilt of the Venus Gospel. "Keep the chocobos ready for escape."

Finally Rufus focused on the approaching riders and frowned. "Put your weapons down."  
Reno gazed from Rufus to the possible threats and back again. "You sure?"

Rufus nodded.

Slightly shocked at how quickly thing had turned dead serious, Zefiris suddenly wished she had her sword with her. She hated feeling vulnerable...

Cid still had his hand on the Venus Gospel as the riders came close and stuck his chin out. "Mind identifying yerselves, friend?"

Straightening, the riders simultaneously threw back their hoods when the birds halted at a small distance away. The rider on the left was revealed to be a woman with chestnut colored hair tied up into a ponytail and a red bandana around her head. The rider on the left was a man with crazy blonde hair and a huge sword on his back.

"Dammit, Strife!" Cid cursed angrily and finally released his grip on his weapon. "You need to quit the Lone Ranger look! Nearly got yourself a face-full of kick ass!"

Giving a faint smile, Cloud nudged his chocobo into motion again. "When I'm unable to dodge your attacks, Cid, I deserve a face-full of kick ass."

Cid snorted with offence, but remained from commenting any further as he noticed the look on Jessie's face. He knew what she was staring at and the thoughts rushing through her mind. "Three months... Fifteen years... Hard to understand, huh?"

Unable to take her eyes off the two boys she instinctively knew were her own, Jessie fought to find her voice again. "Raito... Jamie..."

* * *

Hugging both her sons close, Jessie trembled with relief. "I didn't know if I'd ever see you again..." Leaning back, she rested one hand on each boy's shoulder. "You're both so grown up." 

The three glanced over as Cloud got down from his chocobo as well and walked towards them. A breeze played with the tattered end of his cape and sun suddenly bounced off metal.

Jamie's eyes widened at the sight of the metal claw-like hand on his father's left arm while Raito tried to act like he didn't notice.

Noticing their reactions, Cloud halted with a weak smile. Holding up the unnatural appendage, he slowly wiggled the sharp claws. "It looks worse than it is."

Jessie tried a smile as well. "Life is pretty rough here. We learned that the hard way."

Cid tried to lean inconspicuously closer to Reno and 'whispered'; "I'm telling you, if we can persuade Strife and Vinnie into the same room... We could make a fortune on bets if we could get those two to arm-wrestle!"

Cloud's eyes narrowed. "I've told you before and I will keep telling you; that is NOT going to happen." He glanced over at Raito with a blank look. "They did tell you Cid's insane, right?"

Zefiris joined in on the light laughter sweeping through them, but she couldn't quite shake the uneasy feeling and she did not miss the strange look Cloud Strife sent Riku either. There was something in that blue gaze she did not like...

"So when did you guys come back?" Tifa asked in an effort to ease the attention back on the right track again.

Jessie reached out and gingerly adjusted a blonde lock of Jamie's hair stuck in his red bandana. "A few hours ago. But then we got the message from Cid..."

"Almost didn't believe it," Cloud admitted. "But we had to see for ourselves." He tried a smile at Raito. "And now that I'm seeing it, I'm still finding it hard to believe."

Raito shifted uneasily with a sheepish grin. "Yeah, I know the feeling." He'd expected a father, but this man looked more like an older brother.

Cloud cast a final discrete glance at Riku before returning to his own chocobo. "Anyway, let's get back to Valhall and we can continue our talk there."  
Hugging the boys a final time, Jessie followed his example. "Yeah, it might not be safe out here if Lee knows about their arrival."

"Yeah, he's probably sung his song to his masters already," Cid grumbled. "Better get inside before they send the big guns after us."

"Any word on Barret?" Tifa inquired silently.

Cloud gathered the reins as he was back on his bird. "Yeah, Lucrecia received a message from him shortly before she got yours. He's heading back to Valhall too."

Tifa kept a quizzical gaze on him.

It took an obvious effort for Cloud not to look at Riku again. "He found Sephiroth."

* * *

Midgar was an impressive city, but Valhall simply took your breath away. 

Carved out of the mountain itself, the city was half-hidden behind a massive wall and powerful gates. It was hard not to be awestruck as it took six men just to open the gates when they reached their destination.

Robin had barely time to ask how it was possible to create a city in a mountain when the opening gates revealed two women eagerly awaiting them. Both dressed in white coats and wearing glasses, they could almost appear to be sisters.

Cid slapped his son's shoulder hard. "That there is your momma!"

Almost toppling off his chocobo, Cid Jr fought to regain balance and yet did not losing his smile for one second. "As if I'd ever forget her!" He slid off the bird and quickly strode over to Shera. "Mum, I..." Once again, his words were interrupted by a hug threatening to squeeze the air out of him. "Mum..." Cid Jr wheezed. "Don't... cry..."

Walking pass the sobbing Shera and her awkwardly grinning son, Lucrecia bee-lined towards Zefiris and Riku. "Welcome. We've all been waiting for you."

Riku sent his sister a puzzled look, but Zefiris got off her chocobo with a smile. "Here we are." She motioned for Riku to follow. "You remember Lucrecia, don't you?"

Eyeing the woman suspiciously, Riku inched closer. "Barely."

Zefiris glanced around, hoping to see a few more faces she remembered. "Where is Mum?"

Lucrecia measured Riku before focusing on her grand-daughter again. "Tending to some wounded soldiers. I'll bring you to her later."

"And Hojo?" Zefiris decided it would probably be wisest to ask her mother about why they needed to send out searches for her father.

"Kicking some puppies somewhere, probably," Lucrecia declared lightly.

Everyone blinked.

"Simply hilarious, Lu," Hojo's voice drawled as the dark haired man came shuffling towards them. "Pure comedic genius. Forgive me if I don't fall over laughing, I have a bad knee."

Laughing, Lucrecia poked her tongue at him. "You're just cranky about me ruining your grand entrance!"

Hojo rolled his eyes as he came to a halt beside her and instantly glared at the newly arrived group. "So, this is them. Not very impressive. Look at those faces; like a group of clones. Bad clones. Not like the kind I used to make. I hope they're better fighters than they look. Do we know what skills they have? If one more person with useless skills takes up room in this city, I swear I will take up human experimenting again...!" His rant was cut abruptly short when Zefiris walked over and wrapped her arms around him.

Silence followed and everyone just stared.

Eventually did Hojo clear his throat discretely. "Just what do you think you're doing...?"

Leaning back, Zefiris grinned up at him. "Mum taught me this trick. Whenever you start your ranting, the most efficient way of shutting you up is to give you a hug!"

Hojo blinked.

There was a choked giggle from someone. And another. Then everyone started guffawing.

Turning red, Hojo daintily untangled himself from his grand-daughter. "That's it. I'm quitting. I'm joining the other side! I bet Gast and the others don't have to put up with this! Did you hear me? I'm leaving! I'm serious!" Then the brat hugged him again! "...Whatever. Hmpf."

* * *

_AN; Short and sweet, but things are moving along! Erm, trivia time! Play Kingdom Hearts, look at Riku and there is NO way you can convince me that is NOT Sephiroth's son! Hah! And PL Cloud's look is the KH version. And... that's all. For now. Stay tuned!_


	5. Yuffie

**4. Yuffie**

_Gazing out at the horizon, Yuffie found herself staring at yet another sunset. _

_Waiting._

_So many sunsets now and she still couldn't get used to it or accept it. It hurt so much it felt like a physical pain every time, just like the first time, and she was terrified it would never change._

_And Yuffie hated feeling scared more than anything!_

_The hawk on her arm gave a soft squawk._

_Gazing over at the magnificent bird, the young woman gave a faint smile while gently stroking a finger over it's chest. "We'll find a way... Right?"_

_Tilting it's head, the hawk merely gazed at her with calm eyes._

_Grey eyes._

"_I miss you," Yuffie whispered as her own eyes filled with tears. "I miss you so much..."_

_Daylight was dying and dusk was setting in._

_She watched as the shadows grew longer and the hawk flapped over to stand on the ground. She watched as the light surrounded it, while ignoring the light surrounding her, and she watched as the animal grew, blurred, and slowly became the man she loved._

_Yuffie bit back a sob, feeling the tears run down her face, and reached out..._

_Hands reached out, fingertips nearly touching, before the final ray of light died and the night was once again king._

_Holding out his arm, Hawk let the bird settle on it. He could still see the pain in the grey eyes looking back at him and it was killing him inside. Those two seconds at sunrise and sunset, seeing her and yet being unable to speak or touch her, it was pure agony._

_The hawk let out a shrill cry and Hawk sighed mournfully. "I know, Yuffie. We'll find a way..."_

* * *

Rufus pressed his palm against his eyes for a few seconds, willing himself to remain in the present before looking at the others. "Ok, listen up..." He felt a weak sense of gratitude as everyone fell silent and focused on him. "We still got missions to complete and work to do. Cid, you and Shera get Junior a room and update him. Cloud and Jessie, you two do the same with your kids. Hojo, you deal with Zefiris and Riku. Bring them to their mother first."  
Hojo sniffed offended. "I'm busy."

"Tell it to someone who cares," Rufus growled. "Just do it."

Crossing his arms, Hojo glared viciously at the giggling Lucrecia.

Zefiris placed a calming hand on Riku's shoulder. "That's just his way of saying he'd be happy to take care of his beloved grandchildren. His is a complicated language!"

Rufus was unable to keep from chuckling. "Words of wisdom, Zefiris." He turned serious again and focused on Lucrecia. "Could you bring Dawn and Frost to...?"

The smile on her face vanished instantly, but Lucrecia gave a small nod. "No problem."

Hojo was fuming by now.

"Felix, Robin, Logan and Remy. You guys come with me and Tifa." Rufus acted like he didn't see the accusatory glare from Reno. "Any questions? ...Except you, Hojo. No? Ok. We'll talk some more later and fill in whatever gaps you have about our situation here. Good luck everyone."

One minute later, with everyone gone in their appointed direction, the gates opened and Barret came storming in. ""Where they at? Where? Dammit, where them kids?"

Palmer wobbled up next to him. "Do you think they brought goodies?"

* * *

Zefiris and Riku had to trot to keep up with Hojo's pace. The man seemed determined in his faith that they would disappear if he just ignored them long enough.

Finally stopping in front of the tallest building in the city, he cast a glance behind him and sighed disappointed at still finding them there. "Here we are."

Riku frowned. "And where is 'here'?"

Hojo frowned back. "Don't you know anything about your mother?"

"The church," Zefiris declared quietly, almost as if she was afraid to disturb anything.

"Where else?" Hojo confirmed. "Now, I would love to walk you in there and watch the entire emotional reunion between mother and children, but I'm afraid the holy ground would cause me to catch fire and die a horribly noisy and messy death."

Eyes wide, Riku took a discrete step away from the scientist. "Okay..."

Zefiris merely glared. "You sense of humour, Hojo, is just... wrong in so many ways."

Grinning like a snake, Hojo pushed the door open and walked inside. "Yeah, well, your brother believed it. Faces like that are priceless!"

Patting Riku's shoulder in a comforting gesture, Zefiris walked inside too. She vaguely noticed her brother following, but her eyes was instantly drawn towards the lone figure at the other side of the room. A slender woman with chestnut coloured hair and a breathtaking grace.

She seemed painfully fragile in the huge room, the cold stone making a hard contrast to the warm flowers growing by the altar. Row upon row of cots filled the room as well, making no doubt as to the horrors of a war, and yet Aeris' mere presence was a beacon of hope.

It seemed almost blasphemous to break the tranquillity...

"I got visitors for you!" Hojo yelled, making both children and Aeris start violently. "Rufus made me bring them to you, even as he knows I'm busy with REAL work, you know!" He stared pointedly at the two next to him. "What are you waiting for? A formal invitation?"

Aeris felt her heart jump at the sight and quickly walked towards them. "Zefiris? Riku?" It was so hard to believe how the small children she'd seen three months ago were grown into the two youths by Hojo's side.

Zefiris snapped out of her apathy and rushed towards her mother, while Riku got an aiding shove from Hojo, and the two soon found themselves in a crushing embrace.

"Thank you!" Aeris called out after Hojo's back .

Giving a dismissive wave, the dark haired scientist knew his mission was completed and couldn't get away soon enough.

Zefiris leaned back slightly, fighting against tears and smiles at once. "Mum...?" It was weird calling a woman that looked not much older than herself 'mum'.

Laughing softly as she struggled with the notion of this young woman being her little daughter, Aeris stroke the silver hair. "Yes...?"

"Where is dad?"

The smile died on Aeris' lips and she was unable to say anything for a few seconds before forcing herself to snap out of it. She lightly touched Zefiris face, hugged Riku tight, then released them and motioned for them to follow her up to the altar. "You father..." She sighed heavily and the sound danced towards the ceiling of the empty church. "I guess you've heard about the... abilities we have in this world?"  
Riku snorted. "Yeah, like Hojo's ability of being creepy!"

Laughing softly, Aeris felt a jolt of pain at how similar the boy was to Sephiroth. "I'm afraid that is just his natural charm. You'll get used to it." Halting by the altar, she fidgeted with a flower. "Your father is the strongest person alive, in both worlds, but coming here; his strength was contained. In a Summon materia."

"But I thought materia didn't work here?" Riku asked with a confused frown.

"True," Aeris admitted. "This one is different. This one is his very soul. And... we didn't get to him first." The words seem to cause her real physical pain. "They unleash him on our troops and I try to heal the ones who survive..."

Zefiris felt the cold spread in her veins. "Dad is on their side?"

Aeris spun around to face her and shook her head quickly. "No! No, don't even think that! No, he just... He's not in control." She wrapped her arms around herself and gazed down at the floor. "We've been gathering information for two weeks now, so we'll get him back." A weak laugh filled with despair. "We have to get him back."

Riku shifted uneasily. "Can't you just fight him and drag him back?"

"He's too strong," Aeris explained quietly. "He's destroyed entire armies alone." A short pause. "He even cut off Cloud's arm as he was trying to hold him off while his soldiers fled." Aeris turned back to the altar. "The only one capable of holding him off for a short while is Panlong."

Riku stepped up next to his mother and tried a smile. "Then it's a good thing we're getting him back!"

Exhaling a relieved smile, Aeris nodded. "Yes. Yes, it is."

* * *

"So, what's wrong?"

Lucrecia glanced puzzled over at Dawn. "What do you mean?"

The girl shrugged, but her eyes remained razor sharp. "I was just wondering what was wrong."

"What makes you think something is wrong?" Then Lucrecia frowned. "Except for us being in a different dimension of our world and fighting against old dead guys... Other than that, what do you mean?"

Dawn's eyes narrowed a fraction. "Since me and my brother arrived here, no one has talked about our parents and it doesn't really take a genius to see how everyone tense up if they're even mentioned."

Lucrecia didn't reply, merely glanced at the girl with amused interest. "You're a clever one, aren't you?"

"Like I said, it doesn't take a genius to figure it out."

A bird soared over them, letting out a mournful cry, and Lucrecia nodded toward the animal. "What did it say?"

Dawn and Frost both gave her blank stares.

Lucrecia raised her eyebrows. "I guess you guys don't speak bird then..." She leaned slightly towards Dawn. "He's a silent one, your brother..."

"He doesn't do small-talk." Dawn was getting annoyed now. "And I can't help but to notice how you won't answer my question..."

"I'm trying to!" Lucrecia complained. "The reason why I asked about the bird; your mother can understand the language of animals. You two know we all got some special abilities here? Good. Well, the reason why people get a bit uptight about your parents... you father, to be precise, is how his powers are much stronger here. So strong, in fact..." Opening a heavy door, she guided them to a dark stairway leading down into the depths of the mountain. "...Vincent can't control his demons."

A loud roar echoed through the darkness, forcing them to cover their ears until it died down, and Lucrecia sent the two an apologetic smile. "He has his own special room, you see. While me and Hojo work on some tranqs that will repress the beasts enough for him to be able to control them."

Dawn tried to ignore the tingle of fear in her blood as they kept walking deeper into the darkness. It was their family. Her father would never hurt her...

"What are you doing here, Lucrecia?"

The female voice suddenly drifting out of the darkness was ice cold and laced with a dangerous warning. Rain stepped forward from the shadows and crossed her arms defensively.

Lucrecia instinctively avoided the harsh stare and nodded towards the two behind her. "The children..."

The hostile attitude vanished and Rain gasped softly. "Dawn. Frost." She blinked surprised at the sight of the two youths. "That's...?"

Dawn tried a smile. "It's us." She yanked her brother forward too. "It may have been three months for you, but back in the real world; it's been fifteen years."

Tears filled Rain's eyes and she quickly gathered the two children in a tight embrace, pointedly ignoring Lucrecia's quiet retreat while trembling with relief. "Vincent is going to be so surprised..."

* * *

Strained breathing, air think with violence, and glowing eyes.

Frost took the first step in to the room, strangely curious to see the father Dawn had talked about but he could never remember. He was not easily startled, but cold fear mixed with his blood at the sight which met him.

Glowing eyes glared at the three with pure murderous intent as Chaos tugged angrily at the silver chains around his wrists. Chains attached to the walls in a small, cave-like room.

The chains seemed too thin to restrain a demon, but the silver glowed unnaturally in the dark without the smallest sign of breaking.

Chaos growled deep in it's throat, hating the constraints around it's wrists almost as much as the jail inside Valentine. Discovering how easy it was to break free after arriving in the Promised Land, the demon had only gotten a short sweet taste of freedom, before Valentine once again clawed his way back to life. The man was just too stubborn for his own good!

Following her brother, Dawn tensed slightly at the sight of Chaos. "Where is my father?"  
The demon bared his fangs in a parody of a grin. _**"In here."**_ The silver chains rattled as it raised the metal hand to tap a claw to it's temple. _**"They're all in here."**_

"Don't talk to it," Rain said in a steel voice with no attempt to hide her anger at the creature.

Dawn frowned and walked up to stand right in front of Chaos. "I want to speak with my father. Vincent Valentine."

"_**Why don't you talk to me instead?"**_ The grin widened.

Reaching out, Dawn touched Chaos' face. "Dad...? Can you hear me?"

The demon was just about to deliver another line when a tremor ran through it. _**"Aw, crap..."**_

Convulsing and barely able to stand up, the figure turned from demon into a man. Vincent Valentine gasped for air as he finally managed to take control, if only for a little while, and red eyes gleamed wearily when he raised his head to focus on the three staring at him. "Dawn... Frost..."

Dawn, who had barely taken a step back while Chaos transformed into the man in front of her, finally dared a relieved smile and grasped his hands. "Daddy..."  
Managing a ghost of a laugh, Vincent gazed at the young woman. "You seem a bit mature for you age..."

Rain dared to move closer as well. "It's been fifteen years in the real world, Vincent..."  
Vincent nodded in a slow motion. It was, after all, not the first time he missed out on a few decades. "I see." He glanced over at his son, painfully aware at how much the boy resembled himself as a young boy. "You don't remember me, do you?"

Frost shook his head.

"It's alright," Vincent reassured quietly. "You hadn't reached your first birthday when we left..." He felt an odd pain at the knowledge of how much he and Rain had missed out on. "We didn't have much choice, I'm afraid."

Dawn squeezed Vincent's hands gently and smiled. "It's okay now. We're all together again."

The former Turk sighed heavily. "It's not okay. You two should never have been involved in this."

"We can fight," Frost mumbled.

Rain and Vincent exchanged looks, speaking without words, before the dark haired woman sighed. "Things are different here..."

"How?" Dawn asked.

Vincent hesitated briefly. "We don't have any cure materia or potions here. If you get hurt, you're really hurt unless you're lucky enough to have Aeris nearby."  
"And if you die..." Rain began, but was unable to finish.

"If you die," Vincent continued, "you disappear. Not just from this world, but from everything in it. Even your presence in your friends minds disappear. It's like you never existed."

Dawn paled. "People don't remember you?"

"You're gone. And no one mourns you, because no one knows that you died."

* * *

_AN; Delayed as usual. I suck. Anyways, a huge thanks to you reviewers! Forgive me if I have not replied, but your words are what keeps me writing! You guys rock!_


	6. Sephiroth

_**5 Sephiroth**_

_He can't breathe._

_Everything is black so he can't see anything, but it feels like he's trapped in small room because it's impossible to move._

_Can't breathe._

_He panicked when he discovered his voice was gone too, but that was hours ago._

_Days?_

_Feels like weeks..._

_Now, he just tries to fight his way to one breath after another, and waits. He really doesn't want to die like this, unless he's not dead already, but a part in his soul refuses to give up. Sephiroth has fought so hard and for so long throughout his entire life that the will to live is stronger than any other impulse in him._

_He waits._

_So when a backwash hits him, yanks the ground from underneath him, and sends him flying down into the darkness; Sephiroth is ready to fight for his life when the world stabilizes again and he's free of his dark prison._

_Kneeling in the middle of something that looks like an arena, he slowly gets up and tries to fight off the lingering sensation of vertigo._

_His body reacts before his mind does, which saves him from the first attack, and the Masamune actually shatters the other sword. The silver haired man has no idea where he is, why these three people are attacking him or how he ended up there, but there is no way he is dying today. _

_Sephiroth finally feels alive again, as if the black nothingness had leached his life out of him, and he savours the sensation of reclaiming life with warm blood on his hands. _

_The Masamune sings._

_But once the last attacker is defeated and Sephiroth trembles with adrenaline, a second backwash hits him. He screams, but the darkness swallows the sound and him whole._

* * *

Following his parents, Raito couldn't help but to send Cloud a curious look. How did you lose the hand?" 

Cloud glanced down at his metal hand. "I entered a fight I thought I could win and... I lost."

Jamie reached a new level of pale that had yet to be witnessed by humanity.

"Still, losing an arm instead of my life is a small price to pay for my failure," Cloud stated silently. "And it kept him occupied long enough for everyone else to escape..."  
"Him?"

Jessie could almost feel the pain in Cloud's eyes. "Sephiroth." She knew she would never forget the day they brought Cloud back to Valhall. His screams reached the city long before he did and there was so much blood...

Raito drew a sharp breath. "You fought... Sephiroth? THE Sephiroth?"

"Yeah," Cloud stated with a faint and slightly bitter smile. "The one and only."

"Does it..." Jamie started before swallowing hard. "Does it hurt?"

"Sometimes." All the time. "Now let's get you two down to Reeve and get you geared up." Cloud let the cape cover his arm and quickened his pace.

Jessie gave Jamie an encouraging nudge as she passed him. "Let's go and find you a big manly sword!"

Leading them down some stairs, Cloud stopped to knock briefly on a massive door before entering a room with open fires and weapons lined up along every wall. "Reeve!"

A dark haired man with a finely cut goatee glanced up from where he was hunkered over a sword. "Cloud?" Straightening abruptly, he managed to knock over two other swords, a cup, a bunch of tools and some small parts that clattered noisily across the floor. "Oh. Hey." He crouched down to pick up the swords and fanned Jessie away as she moved over to help. "I, ah, got it. Don't worry."

Ignoring his words and gathering the tools, Jessie gave a gentle laugh.

Placing the cup on the table, knocking it over again as he withdrew his hand, Reeve barely managed to catch it before it was back on the floor. Smiling sheepishly, he gazed at the two newcomers. "I take it the children have grown a bit since we last saw them?"

Cloud nodded. "They need weapons, Reeve."

"Leave that to us," a voice purred.

Raito's eyes widened as a blonde woman entered the room as well. She was probably the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen and her clothes and attitude told him that she wouldn't argue against him on that statement.

"Close your mouth, dear," Jessie sighed absently to her oldest son before nodding a greeting to the other woman. "We have complete faith in you both, Scarlet."

Feeling his face burn with embarrassment, Raito quickly clamped his mouth shut and stared at the floor while trying hard to ignore Jamie's giggling laughter.

* * *

Rufus stared at the rose in his hand. The petals were deep red, the stem a dark green colour and the thorns pressed lightly into his skin without drawing blood. It all looked and felt very real. 

He slowly closed his eyes, waited a heartbeat, and opened them again.

The rose was gone, replaced by a single seed lying on his palm.

"The children settled in?"

Reno scowled over at his boss sitting by the fire-place as he entered the room and slinked over to his usual corner. "Tifa is taking care of them, but yeah."

Rufus closed and opened his eyes again, studying the tiny bud almost ready to reveal the crimson petals. "He is your son, you know."

The red haired Turk flinched as if Rufus had punched him straight in the face. "Wrong, boss. I DON'T know that! She never told me nothing!"

"She didn't tell you because she didn't know," Rufus said silently, slowly closing his hand around the rose and felt the dried plant crumble noisily into dust and the thorns digging painfully into his flesh. He sent his cousin a tired look to cut off the angry objection. "Think about it, Reno. The last few weeks before we knew time was up... You two weren't exactly on the best of terms. When was the last time you talked? And I mean really talked."

Reno clenched his jaw with a pained look, but didn't answer.

Opening his hand, Rufus let the dust drizzle to the floor and a single drop of his blood dripped down to mix with it. "When we all disappeared, Elena was left behind and it took her three weeks to discover why."

Clinging on to his anger, his most loyal companion, Reno found it hard to form words. "If that's true, why isn't she here with him then?" A challenging glare.

Rufus frowned absently, watching a second drop of blood join it's predecessor. "She's dead, Reno."

"No." Reno set a furious glare in him. It was not up for discussion. "NO."

"It was an accident." The former ShinRa President plucked out a thorn from his palm. "She was the one who took care of the children after we disappeared. Gathered them all and taught them to fight. And two years before the children came to us, Elena forgot to look both ways before crossing the street."

"No!" Reno exclaimed, his voice raw with emotion. "No, because I'd know! I'd KNOW! She would be here, in the Promised Land, and I'd KNOW!"

Rufus shook his head. "She was returned to the Lifestream."

Gritting his teeth against the dry tears burning in his eyes, Reno kept shaking his head. "No. You're wrong. She's okay. Gonna kick my ass for disappearing on her, but she'll understand. You got it wrong, Rufus!"

Getting up, Rufus walked over to place his unharmed hand on his cousin's shoulder. "The future is not set in stone, Reno. And, because we're here, neither is the past."

* * *

The door slammed open and Barret stormed into the room, heaving for air. "Where...?" 

Palmer peeked into the room. "Seems we made it just in time!" He waved an eager arm. "Hello everyone!"

After the children had a brief conversation with their parents, being shown their rooms, everyone had been told to gather in the conference room.

Huffing angrily, Barret stomped into the conference room and glared at each person sitting around the long table in turn. He'd spent the last hour running around from room to room, looking for AVALANCHE members or their offspring and missing everyone by seconds. "Ya foos ever considah telling ME about your damn meetin'?"

Having turned his chair around, Cid was straddling it with a lazy grin as usual and folded his arms on top of the back-rest. "We might have gotten around to telling ya if you'd kept still for two seconds!"

Pointedly ignoring Cid, Barret stalked over to loom over Rufus. "Where's mah girl?"

Zefiris shifted uneasily. "We don't know..." She gazed down at her fidgeting hands. "She wasn't with us when we arrived her.."

Barret didn't take his eyes off Rufus.

Sighing wearily, Rufus closed his eyes. "She's not here, Barret." He gave the other man an even look. "She's pregnant."

Barret had the look of a man who'd just been told his puppy was in reality a Black Dragon with a taste for eating babies. "Have you finally lost what is left of your mind, ShinRa? That's my girl you be talking about! My little girl!"

Zefiris and Robin exchanged looks and the silver haired girl raised a puzzled eyebrow. "You think Denzel knows?"

"Denzel?" Barret shrieked. "That the name of the pervert taking advantage of a little girl?"

Cid cleared his throat. "Barret, man, it's been fifteen years since you saw Marlene last. She ain't no little girl no more."

"Shut up!" Barret continued to shriek, an impressive high pitch for a grown man. "I'm going to kill this Dense-whatshisface! Gonna make him regret his momma ever met his poppa!"

"As fascinating as this is," Lucrecia sing-sang, "don't we have more important business to talk about?" She stuck her elbow into the softly snoring Hojo by her side, failing to hide a grin at his startled snort due to the rude awakening.

Everyone turned to look Barret, but Aeris was the one quietly asking the question everyone was thinking.

"Did you really find him? Did you find... Sephiroth?"

Forced back to the problems at hand, Barret nodded. "Yeah, I found him. And this is prolly gonna be our last chance at getting him back..."

* * *

Cid sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Okay... Who, where and how many?" 

Shaking his head, as if to get the details back in place, Barret drew a sharp breath. "Small army, around ten to fifteen guys, and they're camped up by Lake Ceil," he then made a face of someone being forced to say something he knows is not going to be received very well, "and it's... Joy."

Every soul in the room who'd met and dealt with the man made a resigned sigh.

"Great," Cloud mumbled, leaning back in his chair. "It had to be him, didn't it? It HAD to be him!" He forced himself quiet as Jessie's hand gently covered his in an act of reassurance.

"We can still do this," Cid forced out between clenched teeth.

"We ain't got much choice," Barret grumbled. "Either we get him back or he'll kill us all."

Fidgeting with a pen, Shera got up abruptly and began pacing. "Okay, so we're still waiting for Seto and Nanaki to return with their report. Once we know what we're dealing with up north, we can re-group and place our main focus on Lake Ceil and recovering... recovering, ah, Sephiroth..."

Rufus managed a barely recognizable nod. "Yeah, we're expecting them back tonight..." He pressed his hands against his temples, forcing back a pained sound, and willed himself back to the present. "We can't fail this time, people. Like the man said, this is our last chance. If we fail... we die."

"We'll get him back," Aeris declared in a voice hard as steel. She couldn't handle any more of this. Knowing Sephiroth needed her, knowing they were hurting him, and her being unable to help him was slowly killing her aside.

Zefiris got up and nodded firmly as well. "Yeah, we'll get him back."

Glancing surprised over at her daughter, Aeris let out a relieved smile. And was fighting against tears as Riku got up and said the same.

"Excuse me," Hojo raised his hand up in the air. "Is this going to get mushy? Cos I don't do mushy." He shrank slightly into his chair at all the annoyed looks he got and slowly lowered his hand with a defiant mumble; "I got a note from home..."

"Freak," Reno growled, then suddenly kneeled down beside Rufus. Studying the empty blue gaze, he quickly exchanged looks with Tifa, before motioning the other Turk over to help. Rude, quiet as always, helped Reno hoist the apathetic Rufus up and the two had a firm hold on an arm each and guided the former President out of the room.

Felix turned to his mother, eyes wide with worry and concern. "What...?"

"It happens," Tifa whispered in a weak voice tainted with pain. "He slips away..."

"And he slips back," Cid declared firmly, not taking his eyes off Tifa until she met his gaze and managed a faint smile, and only then did he turn his gaze over to Lucrecia and Hojo. "How's the anti-Chaos pill coming along?"

Hojo shrugged. "The recent development caused the blood to explode. I'd say we'd found perfection, but Lu suggests we give it a few more tries."

"Let's," Cid agreed with a sarcastic smile. "Then... we wait for Nanaki. Shera, you and Cloud go over the maps, build us a strategy we can use, okay? Barret, you go with them and fill in the information you got. Jessie and Tifa, I think they need you two down on the construction site. Everyone else, you know what to do."

Wait.

* * *

_AN; I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and had a great start on the new year! I shall celebrate by posting a tiny AeriSeph piece that is canon to the time between The World is not Enough and Where the Lost ones go! Thanks to everyone still reading and reviewing! You know you're the ones who keep me writing!_


	7. Palmer

_**6 Palmer**_

_There was a time when things used to be fun! When he would drink tea and listen to Cid curse over the lack of funding for the space program. When Shera would place a band aid on a cut and offer him a cookie to make it better. When tomorrow was another day filled with endless possibilities!_

_Then everything and everyone changed. _

_His friends stopped being his friends. Heidegger thought it was hilarious to put laxatives in his tea and poison ivy in his clothes. Scarlet refused to acknowledge his very existence. Rufus considered him less important than a spider. And President ShinRa Senior told him on a daily basis how he was wasting good oxygen._

_So, if there was something Palmer learned it was how you never got second chances. You make your choices and you live with them. Simple as that. _

_And then, once again, everything changed._

_Palmer didn't really understand all the technical stuff, but he understood what this meant for him._

_After following a man called Jinrei and Professor Gast for two days, the perfect moment finally presented itself and Palmer never looked back._

_A painfully early morning, he wobbled his way out of camp and did not stop until he was facing a very surprised and suspicious Cid Highwind._

_It did take a lot of persuading and Hojo pointing out the fact that Palmer didn't really have the brains to play a spy and would make an excellent meat shield, but eventually Palmer was allowed to join their side. _

_Yep, he was one of the good guys now and so far he had yet to be hit by a truck or get slapped around for no apparent reason, making him pretty sure he'd made the right choice this time around._

_There was the minor drawback where they actually expected him to do his share of the work, scouting and gathering information, but there was always tea._

_Tea and lard!_

* * *

Deceptively soft paws barely made a sound as Nanaki walked through the small forest between him and reaching Valhall. An ear flickered at a sound too discrete for any human ear to hear. 

He wasn't alone.

"Howdy!" A voice greeted him cheerfully and Cid jumped down from a tree. "Was starting to get worried you'd gotten lost or something!" He swung the Venus Gospel above his head once before the sharp end was pressing against Nanaki's throat with just enough force to advice against any sudden movements.

Nanaki's golden eye glanced at the shadow behind the pilot.

A warning growl came from deep in Seto's throat. Ready to tear the blonde apart if he made any sudden movements of his own, the older beast still failed to hide a blink of surprise when a sharp spear appeared out of nowhere and dwelled by his neck. The weapon was held by a young stranger with strangely familiar blue eyes.

"We had to avoid a patrol," Nanaki explained absently and studied the teenager half hidden by Seto. "Is that...?"

"Yep!" Cid beamed with a silly grin. "The kids arrived yesterday. That there is my boy." He leaned slightly closer to the beast and 'whispered' confidentially; "he doesn't like being called Junior and we can't have two Cids running around, so we decided to call him Buck!"

"**You **decided to call me Buck," Cid Jr sighed good humoured.

Nanaki chuckled. "He still calls me Red sometimes too."

"Ain't my fault you didn't wanna give us your real name first," Cid huffed and glanced over at the small patch of trees. "Seen enough?"

Stepping out into the clearing, Rude placed his sunglasses back on and nodded.

Grinning, Cid lowered his weapon. "Welcome back you two!"

Seto cast Cid Jr a wary look as the boy lowered his weapon as well. "I trust you have made sure there are no spies among them?"

"We've learned our lesson," Cid replied in a strange voice and with no trace of mirth in his eyes anymore.

Not for the first time, and probably not for the last time, Cid Jr felt like an outsider who had no idea what they were talking about. There were so many holes in the story he'd been told about what had happened in the last three months! So many names which made people twitch uncomfortably while their eyes would flood with unpleasant memories.

"Did you find what we need?" Cid finally asked.

Nanaki nodded before glancing over at the pilot. "Rufus?"  
Cid shook his head.

Sighing, the beast began walking towards Valhall. "Barret and Palmer back?"

"Yep." Cid rested the Venus Gospel over his shoulders as he began the march back towards the town as well. "We've been waiting for you two to return before we can make the final plans. Looks like this might be our final chance..."  
"Who is the Keeper?" Seto asked.

"Joy."

A suffocating silence fell over the small group and Cid Jr couldn't help but to wonder at the unease that always followed that name. With a name like 'Joy', how dangerous could a man be...?

* * *

There were two sources of light in the cave-like room. 

Most of the illumination came from the torches hanging on each side of the room, but it was impossible not to notice the fiercely glowing eyes belonging to the chained up demon. It's entire presence radiated malice while it still possessed a fake smile on it's lips.

Dawn tilted her head as she studied the demon from where she was sitting on top of a small table, just close enough to state she wasn't afraid while keeping enough distance in respect of how dangerous it would be to get within reach of the deadly claws. She instinctively knew her father was resting inside his living prison.

The demon was looking very much like a human now. When her father was struggling for control, Dawn had noticed how Chaos was forced to fight back and it's form would become more like it's true nature.

_**"Has the little lamb lost her way?"**_ Chaos got up from where it had been sitting and leaning against the wall. _**"Or do you hope to achieve something by staring?"**_

After thirty minutes of silently studying each other, it would seem like the demon grew bored of their little game pretty fast. Dawn gave a faint smile. It was a small victory, but a victory none the less. Straightening slightly, she pulled up her legs to sit Indian style. "I want to ask you something..."

_**"Release me."**_

Dawn smiled again. "You know I can't do that."

_**"Can't or won't?"**_ The demon started to sound annoyed as well as bored.

"Pick one." The girl tried to pretend she didn't see the fury flaring up in the glowing eyes.

_**"Release. Me."**_

Fighting against a wave of irrational fear that followed the words hissed at her, Dawn clenched her jaw hard. "No." She had to fight even harder against the urge to leave the room to get away from the pure hatred seeping out from Chaos. "Why? Why do you hate us so much?"

Absently testing the strength of the silver chains, the demon actually growled. _**"Puny. Pathetic. Worthless humans. I'm going to kill you all. Every last one of you."**_

"Why?" Dawn repeated angrily. "Is that all you do? Is killing all you know? No wonder you're locked in here! And you call us pathetic!"

The chains trembled but didn't break as they abruptly halted Chaos' launch towards her. The demon didn't seem to notice the restraints digging into the skin as it kept leaning towards the now ghostly pale Dawn. _**"You have NO idea what I can do or what I am capable of!"**_

Dawn's first reaction had been to scramble further back on the table and sat now on the edge of falling off. Heart thumping, pulse racing and fear tickling at her every sense, she struggled to find her voice. "I don't..."

_**"I was ancient when this world was born! I had destroyed entire planets before the first creature saw the first sunrise on this worthless rock! I have seen sights your tiny human minds could never comprehend. Souls have worshipped me and they have feared me."**_ Chaos sneered with barely withheld rage. _**"This world captured me. Trapped me. Kept me locked inside it for years. Thousands of years!"**_

Trembling, Dawn stared into the glowing eyes and she knew, deep inside, that Chaos had been awake all those years.

Awake and screaming.

* * *

Entering the lab, Hojo blinked as he was greeted with the sound of shattering glass. "Lovely to see you too." 

Lucrecia huffed angrily. "This is impossible!" She stomped out from behind the table where she'd spent endless hours analysing Vincent's blood in hopes of finding a way to control Chaos. "Back home, we'd have a decent lab and a decent chance of developing something useful against insane demons set on killing everything in sight!"

Hojo sent a final cautious glance at the shattered vial Lucrecia had sent flying against the wall before making his way over to his designated work-place. "Does this mean I don't have to pretend to help?"

"Stop it!" Lucrecia exclaimed, spinning around to glare at him. "Can you just stop it? Please?" She exhaled heavily before running her fingers through her hair in frustration. "Can you stop blaming him for what I did?"

Hojo tensed up, freezing in mid-motion of reaching out for a pen, and his eyes flared briefly with something dangerous. "Don't." A quiet and firm warning.

"Why not?" Lucrecia choked out a laugh. "It's not like you're afraid to use it against me. Or him."

"I'm not the one who brings it up," Hojo growled. "Now leave it."

Lucrecia shuffled over and placed her hands on the table. "If you're going to blame someone, blame me. Leave Vincent out of it."

Trembling with barely restrained rage, Hojo suddenly focused on her. "Kind of hard, since you brought him in to it."

"I made a mistake."

"You were in love with him!" Hojo screamed before he was able to force his anger back into the dark area of his soul and he hated himself for making her flinch like that.

Swallowing hard, Lucrecia reached out and gently touched his arm. "I chose you."

Hojo managed a resigned laugh. "Guilt? Affection? Because of the pregnancy?" He shook his head and pulled away from her touch. "Just leave it, Lu."

"Is that what you think of me?" Lucrecia asked as she was fighting back tears. "Then why stay with me?"

Hojo met her eyes with a weary look. "If I **could **give you up, don't you think I would have, back then?"

Seeing the raw pain in his eyes, Lucrecia realized how much she hated herself. And Jenova. "I'm sorry... I didn't..." Her words trailed off upon seeing they inflected more pain than relief. Maybe some day she would be able to convince him that she'd stayed with him because she wanted to, not because he was second choice, but the wounds were still too fresh. Maybe then he would stop the violent anger aimed at Vincent and some peace would be restored to his soul. Maybe.

"How about we just focus on the next mission?" Hojo offered quietly, giving them both a way out of something that could turn ugly. "Tomorrow we might finally get our son back."

Lucrecia smiled. Their son. "Sephiroth..." She walked over to clean up the pieces of the broken vial. "I wonder if his children has the same unique DNA and if it affects them differently."

Snorting surprised, Hojo raised his eyebrows. "And people call **me **the mad scientist?"

"That's just because you don't hide it, like I do," Lucrecia smiled sweetly and watched as the shattered glass levitated from the ground and hovered towards the trash can.

* * *

The sun had barely risen when Tifa entered the courtyard and nodded a greeting to Cloud. "Everything okay?" 

Adjusting the sword on his back, Cloud cast a glance back at the small crowd behind him. "Seems that way." He offered a faint smile.

"We're already a day late..." Fighting against the unease, Tifa crossed her arms. "So, are you ready?"

"Ready to show them who are the good guys around here," Cloud declared in a loud voice and received several grins from the ones who were going to join him on the mission.

"No." Tifa held his gaze with a dead serious look. "Are you **ready**?"

Sighing, Cloud let the careless mask fall. "Against Joy? I doubt we can ever be truly ready." He noticed her gaze now resting on the young girl between Cid and Cid Jr. "She declared she was coming with us this morning. She also said that if anyone was going to refuse because she was a girl then she would, and I quote: 'Punch them in the mouth.'" A dry chuckle. "Delightful girl, that Robin."

Tifa managed a ghost of a laugh, recognizing too well her own spirit in her daughter, but feeling sick with worry. "She got her father's stubbornness."

The two fell quiet as Aeris joined the small group as well. It was obvious how the previous night had offered little rest to the flower girl and she had to force a smile to greet the ones she received.

"Zefiris and Riku?" Tifa asked.

"This is our last chance to get Sephiroth back. I don't want to take any chances." Cloud glanced over at Robin yelling at Cid Jr. "I asked Aeris to talk her children into staying here. In all honesty, I'd be more comfortable if none of the children came along, but I guess those two cannot be helped."

Nodding, Tifa tried to appear calmer than she felt. "You sure you don't want more AVALANCHE crew with you?"

"It's going to be a combination of brain and brawns that will earn us victory today. I got all the brawns I'm going to need with me. Let's just pray the brains have calculated correct as well." Cloud place a reassuring hand on Tifa's arm. "I'll look after her, alright?"

Tifa placed a grateful hand over his. "Thank you..." She glanced a final time back at the people gathered there and wondered how many would actually return. Death did not scare her, never had, but losing someone she loved and be deprived the right to mourn them... If her daughter died on this mission, Tifa would never know. How many loved ones had she lost and forgotten already?

And how many would follow them into oblivion...


	8. Jessie

**7 Jessie**

* * *

_Jessie's heart was pounding as she was slowly advancing further and further into the mountain. Soon she'd reach where not even daylight was able to enter and the thought of being alone in the darkness did not sit well with her._

_Reeve had offered to come along but Jessie knew he was needed elsewhere, and going on a mission, even a dangerous one like a solo mission, was the only thing that kept her mind off wondering where Cloud was for more than five seconds._

_Swallowing hard, Jessie clutched the handle of her whip tighter and tried to will her night-vision better._

_The rumours about a powerful shape shifter were too many and too detailed for it to be just rumours. It was either one of their own, Cloud was not the only AVALANCHE missing, or it was one of 'them'._

_Waking up in a strange place in an unfamiliar world, Jessie had wandered aimlessly for the first couple of days. She was near crying with relief when she met Reeve and Barret. And as the trio travelled from place to place, they were able to hunt down a few more allies._

_Barely able to see where she was going, Jessie was forced to reach out and feel her way along the mountain wall. There was heavy stench of burned flesh in the air._

_Jessie wanted nothing more than to find Cloud again, but she found herself hoping this was not the time for their reunion._

_Whatever lurked inside this mountain, it was probably very much different from the person it had once been back in their own world..._

_Something moved in the darkness and Jessie froze._

_Silence._

_When nothing happened in the next two seconds, she finally dared to take another step forward. "Hello...? Is there anyone here?"_

_Movement again. The sound of fabric rustling over something, metal scraping against rock, and a muffled sound of pain. "Leave..."_

_Jessie strained to recognize the owner of the rugged voice. "It's Jessie. Please, I just want to talk to you..."_

_More movement, and this time she could actually see the vague contour of a man hunched over in pain. "You have to leave. Hurry. I can't hold it back much longer..."_

_Shaking her head in confusion, Jessie took yet another step towards him while fighting against the unease spreading through her. "Vincent...?"_

_Red eyes suddenly glowed in the darkness and Vincent Valentine's voice grew unnaturally deep. "Run. Damn it, Jessie! RUN!"_

_And as Chaos shot towards her, Jessie turned and ran._

_The darkness exploded into flames._

* * *

In a small forest, a group of people moved like shadows between the trees. Cloud in the front, followed by grim faced soldiers, while Cid, Aeris, Cid Jr and Robin made up the tail. 

Stopping, Cloud held up his fist, made a few hand signals, and the soldiers carefully made their way to circle the barely visible group gathered on the plain outside of the forest.

Robin sent Cid Jr a worried look and got a faint smile in return. Cloud Strife knew what he was doing. Right?

Motioning for them to follow him, Cloud let Cid lead the way over to crouch down 0behind some trees. "You know what to do, Cid."

The pilot grinned widely and gave a lazy salute. "You worry too much, Strife!" He gave his son a harsh punch in the shoulder, winked at Robin, then he and Aeris disappeared among the trees.

"That's because you never worry enough," Cloud sighed before gathering himself with a weak smile. "Okay. You two are with me. You stick with me no matter what."

Cid Jr and Robin nodded.

Frowning, Cloud met their gazes in turn. "No matter what!"

Cid Jr held up his hands in mock surrender. "We said okay. Chill." He stretched slightly to take a peek at the enemy camp. "What's so dangerous about this Joy anyway?"

Cloud hesitated, debating whether he should underline his point a few times more but decided the son was probably as stubborn as his father, and turned to look at the targets as well. "Pray you never have to find out. Now be quiet."

Minutes passed, Cid Jr sighed impatiently as he turned to sit leaning against a tree. He'd expected a huge fight. Action! Not sitting on his ass and waiting for old age to claim him. Huffing annoyed, he glanced over at Robin.

She seemed to have no trouble keeping still and focused on their unsuspecting prey.

Cid Jr moved his gaze over at Cloud Strife and found him doing a pretty good impression of a tree himself.

Great.

Shifting to get more comfortable and ready to drowse, it was easy to let his mind wander and Cid Jr was half-asleep when suddenly everything exploded into movement.

"Go! Go! GO!" Cloud was yelling. Everyone was running. There were... explosions?

Somebody yanked Cid Jr to his feet and then he was running too.

Scrambling to keep up, Cid Jr didn't see Cloud's abrupt halt and crashed hard into him. He was just about to apologize when he saw what the other man was staring at.

A huge symbol was glowing in the sky.

"What...?" The question died as a pillar of light shot down towards the ground and the air hummed with ominous energy.

Someone was kneeling on the ground as the light slowly died away, someone with black armour and silver hair, and as he slowly straightened up; a lone black wing shot out simultaneously with his hand that called the Masamune to his grip.

Sephiroth.

* * *

Lightning flashing, thunder rolling, and Sephiroth shot towards the soldiers coming out of the forest. 

Robin felt ice spread through her veins as she saw the former ShinRa general fight. No human could move that fast...

Cloud swallowed hard and tried to focus on the silent figure of Joy rather than his nemesis. "This is our chance. We have to get that materia. As long as Sephiroth is summoned, Joy is out of it. We don't know why, but whoever summons Sephiroth seem to lose their powers for the duration of the summoning."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Cid Jr hissed nervously.

A roar loud enough to drown out the thunder rolled across the sky.

Cloud gave an almost relieved smile. "We're waiting for him."

The slender body of Panlong came snaking through the air while lightning reflected on the ice blue scales. The water dragon twirled once then dove down to aim it's deadly jaws at Sephiroth.

"Go. Now!" Cloud ordered. The three instantly began running towards their target. A target well-guarded by three unknown men. Joy seemed completely unaware of his surroundings and stared absently at the ground.

A few minutes ago, everything had been so quiet. A few mumbled words, possibly some footsteps, but nothing like the mayhem of sounds that seemed to come from everywhere now. Cid Jr had been in his share of street fights in Midgar, but fear crept up his spine as he managed to block a sword and he realized that losing this fight meant death instead of an injured pride.

Over their heads, Panlong had drawn Sephiroth up into the air and the two were constantly attacking and blocking. The man was moving so fast, disappearing in the blink of an eye to appear mid-attack at the opposite side, and the water dragon felt several of Masamune's kisses.

Raindrops of blood brushed by his face like a caress, Cid Jr managed to send his opponent to the ground before he gazed up to see Panlong curled around Sephiroth and falling towards the ground. His father was losing? The dragon was squirming, the Masamune danced, screams were everywhere, and the blood kept dripping.

His father couldn't lose, right? Not when they were finally together again, when Cid Jr finally had a chance to get to know his legendary father, right?

When Panlong hit the ground, it was thrashing to get back up and wailed in furious pain as the Masamune left a long cut along it's neck. Sephiroth's eerie eyes betrayed no emotion as he went for the kill, just like when he cut off Cloud's hand and the agonized scream pierced his ears, and they never showed any surprise when the Masamune hit a spear instead of a jugular. Sephiroth merely changed his target.

Cid Jr knew he'd done a horrible mistake once those reptile eyes shifted to focus on him. It was like a rabbit standing in front of a train in hopes of stopping it. Stumbling backwards and desperately fending off attacks that sent aftershocks up his arms, he knew he'd just challenged death and he would lose. Sephiroth was too fast and too strong.

He heard Robin scream his name, saw the light bounce off the Masamune shooting towards him, then blood splattered over his face as Cid Highwind stepped between them.

* * *

"No!" Cloud reached out just in time to wrap his arm around Robin's waist and prevented her from doing the same mistake as Cid's son. There was nothing they could do now... 

Sephiroth took a step back and yanked the Masamune out of Cid, letting him crash to his knees while his son unknowingly copied the move in horrified shock. Lifting a hand up to let Cid Jr know he was still alive, Cid fought to breathe despite how the sword had cut through his lung and clung to a weak hope he hadn't just gotten them both killed.

The silverhaired man lifted the sword to end both Highwinds, lowering it in a perfect arch and yet the Masamune halted like it hit a wall.

A wall that was a delicate hand held up to stop the attack and Aeris met the reptile eyes with a fierce calm.

Once a flower girl from the slums in Midgar, she stood tall between her fallen comrades and the possessed Sephiroth. For a moment, they all appeared to be frozen in time. The noise died down to a thick silence.

Barely noticeably, Sephiroth's eyes narrowed. The Masamune trembled as it struggled to cut through Aeris' pale hand. Anger radiated from the man while the girl kept standing her ground.

"Enough," Aeris declared in a firm voice. "Enough killing. Enough blood. Enough loss." She returned his stare without hesitation. "Hear me, Sephiroth, it's enough now."

Sephiroth tightened his grip on the sword.

"Fight me all you want," Aeris continued, "but this is the one battle you can not win."

Neither moved.

"I don't care what you do or what you have done in the past, when will you get that?" Aeris insisted and tried not to worry about how badly Cid was hurt as the horrible sounds he was making confirmed he was still alive at least. If Sephiroth really wanted to, he would end up killing them all anyway. "I know you've been alone, in pain, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't save you sooner. But, enough, Sephiroth! Enough. You can try to run and hide from me, from what they've tried to turn you into, but I will find you." Her fingers slowly wrapped around the blade of the Masamune, ignoring the sharp edge cutting into her palm, and Aeris gazed into his very soul.

"We have been separated long enough, Sephiroth. Don't you know: I will not accept anything keeping us apart?" She took a step closer. "No humans or Cetra." A second step. "No ocean, mountain or country. Not time." She reached out her free hand and barely touched his jawline, never once breaking eye contact. "Not even death."

Sephiroth shuddered.

A single drop of blood dripped from her hand.

"It's dark," Sephiroth whispered. "So dark..."

Aeris smiled through tears. "Not anymore." A bright light flashed in front of her eyes and she automatically cupped her hands as the red summon materia took shape while Sephiroth vanished. "You're safe now." The stone felt warm, almost alive, and she gently closed her hands around it while the materia Cloud had stolen from Joy shattered.

* * *

Then everything turned into lightning speed again! 

One second Cid was coughing blood and gasping for air, a heartbeat later Aeris was kneeing beside him as well and the wound closed under her touch, and before Cid Jr had the chance to ask a single question; he was in a jail of claws. Panlong was shooting towards the sky with him in his front paw, the other front paw occupied by a blue crystal, Aeris was curled up in the grasp of the dragon's back paw.

"Faster, Cid! You got to go faster!" The flower girl called out in a voice heavily stained by fear. "Please, oh, please...! He's closing in!"

Gazing out between the claws, Cid Jr saw Aeris clutch at her own jail bars and stare at something that was following them. Something black and shapeless. Whatever it was, it made his heart beat wildly with fear.

A tentacle reached out from the black fog, almost like a black hand, reaching out to grasp Panlong's tail.

"CID!" Aeris sounded terrified.

The dragon screamed, abruptly shooting towards the ground, making the world spin like crazy with endless twists and turns, until Cid Jr fell back against the claws and he slipped into a blissful darkness.

A calm that would last until a throbbing headache prodded him awake.

Groaning, he lifted a hand to his aching head.

"Finally awake, eh?" Robin.

Cid Jr forced his eyes open to find himself lying in a bed back in Valhall. "What happened?"

"You bumped your thick head," Robin grumbled and walked over to stare out the window. "Luckily there's not much chance of damaging anything up there."  
Closing his eyes briefly, Cid Jr wondered if putting up with that girl in his room was his punishment for interfering with the battle. "How's Dad?"

Robin didn't take her eyes away from the window. "Fine. No thanks to you. They're in a meeting right now. What they're going to do next."

"Hey, I saved his life!" Cid Jr snapped as he sat up angrily. "Sephiroth would have..."

"It was a part of their plan!" Robin interrupted to glare furiously at him. "They'd planned this for weeks, you know! And you nearly ruined it!"

Paling, Cid Jr stared at the floor. "I didn't... know..." But he should have, shouldn't he? He should have trusted his father to know what he was doing. After all, he'd fought Sephiroth and Jinrei and survived, right? He was a stronger fighter than Cid Jr could ever hope to be. "I just... I thought he was in trouble..."

"And you nearly got yourself killed as well!" Robin exclaimed angrily before she stalked over to him. "You idiot!"  
"I'm sorry, okay?" He got up, torn between anger and regret. "I'm sorry!"

"Moron!" Robin continued, shoving at his shoulder. "You thoughtless chocobo! You..." A second shove. "You stupid, inconsiderate..." A third shove and then he grasped her hand.

"I SAID I was sorry, okay?" The anger died as he saw the tears in her eyes.

Neither knew exactly who made the first move, but once their lips met; they really didn't care.

* * *

"How is he?" Rufus asked silently. 

Aeris finally gazed up, aware of everyone's eyes on her, but focused on the one asking the question. She shook her head. "Not good. He needs time."

"We don't have time!" Cloud declared as he got up from his chair. "What do you think they'll do now that they know we got Sephiroth?"

Crossing her arms, Aeris met his stare. "You're not using him."

Barret scratched his neck. "Spikey's got a point, girl. Sephiroth is the best weapon we got to use against'em."

"He is not a weapon," Aeris countered with frost in her voice. "And you are NOT using him. He's been through enough right now."

Hojo had not spoken a word since their return but her words seemed to pain him for some reason. Lucrecia gently placed a hand over his.

Rufus got up from his chair as well. "Aeris is right. Sephiroth is not a weapon for us to use. That was their mistake." He tried a faint smile. "I hope, in time, he'll be able to help us, but let the man rest for now."

Nodding, the flower girl felt a weak sense of relief. Sephiroth needed rest and time to think. They would have to fight her first to get their hands on him, but having Rufus on her side made things far more easy.

"Think we could all need some rest," Cid sighed as he leaned back in his chair. Shera wasn't too happy about how the mission had nearly left her without both husband and son.

A few minutes later, Aeris was making her way towards the church. Sephiroth had been alone for almost an hour now and she wasn't sure what would meet her when she returned. She had summoned him the instant she was back in Valhall as his words kept haunting her :

_It's dark._

He'd been confused at first, defensive, but he recognized her within seconds and actually managed a faint smile when she flung her arms around him and wept with joy.

He hadn't said much, merely listened as she told of what had happened and asked if he could have some time before facing the others.

Aeris had tried to pretend it didn't hurt when he even refused to meet their children.

Carefully opening the door, she peeked inside the church.

Sephiroth was still sitting where she'd left him and with the same distant look in his eyes.

The flower girl went inside, closing the door silently behind her, then walked over and sat down next to him.

A few heartbeats later, Sephiroth's arm slid around her shoulders and he pulled her close.

She closed her eyes and listened to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

He was back.

* * *

_AN; Thanks to everyone who took the time to send me a review. You are the reason why I still fight to finish this fic! Thank you so much! Questions and comments are always cherished!_


	9. Gast

**8 Gast**

_It was an absurd situation. One that he'd never imagined he'd end up in. _

_To see his half-Cetra daughter battle her own blood..._

_He didn't dare to think too much about how this hurt Ifalna. Probably even more than it pained him._

_Fate made it even more ironic that they had the son of Jenova as their somewhat unwilling ally and still Aeris fought them. He'd seen the pain and longing in his daughter's eyes when the fiend was loose, but never once a kind look at her own parents._

_Gast could have sworn he'd even seen contempt in her stare._

_But all that would change once the Cetra had cleaned the planet and the Lifestream from the Crisis. Aeris would understand and she would make Zefiris see as well._

_Too bad about abut the boy, Riku, but the loss of memory once someone died could be useful for once..._

_Without Sephiroth and Riku, there would be no reason for Aeris to continue this behaviour and everything would be right again! _

_And according to Ifalna, the children would arrive to the Promised Land in a few weeks._

_The end always justified the means._

_Gast was willing to do what it took to get his daughter back and for her to see reason._

_"Gast?"_

_Turning, Gast saw the man by some error called Joy standing behind him. "Yes?"_

_"It's confirmed. Palmer and Scarlet is at the rebel base." Joy crossed his arms in a tense gesture. "And..."_

_Raising an eyebrow, Gast felt his curiosity stirring. "And?" _

_"Hojo is there too."_

_Unease spread through Gast and he failed at hiding a flash of fear in his eyes. "That... could be a good thing."_

_Joy scoffed._

_Gast gathered himself, pretending the moment of weakness had never happened, and set a hard stare at the insolent man. "Hojo could be our way into their plans."_

_"How?" Joy asked. "He's on their side, remember?"_

_"Hojo is not on their side. Hojo is only on Hojo's side. If it benefits him, he won't have a problem with it. Use Lucrecia as leverage if you have to, but be careful, he'll smell it if you're lying." Gast cautioned before giving a faint smile to Ifalna passing them._

_Waiting until the Cetra woman was out of the way, Joy glared over at Gast again. "You saying I should just wander over and knock on the door, asking to talk to Hojo?" He did not like this man and he certainly did not trust him! Jinrei had made the choice to team up with His Holiness, but that did not mean Joy shouldn't be wary. Jinrei trusted him to keep an eye on everything and that included this shifty looking geek._

_Gast huffed amused. "Bring the traitors. Should be the perfect chance for them to prove they're really on our side now."_

_"You don't trust them?" The thought of being sent out on a dangerous mission, by someone he did not trust, with someone that could be a traitor as well, it did not sit well with Joy._

_Giving an unconsciously patronizing smile, Gast shrugged. "Better to be safe than sorry, my boy."_

_Joy glared, but kept his thoughts to himself and merely bowed and walked away. He had a mission to accomplish._

_

* * *

  
_

"You. Come with me."

Starting at the sharp voice, Remi spun around to see Reno glaring at him. He glanced around to see if the older man could mean anyone else but him, but the blue stare was locked on him and him alone. Remi sent Jamie a helpless look before following.

They walked a small distance in silence. Remi wondering what was going on and Reno trying to figure out how to word himself.

Suddenly Reno came to an abrupt halt, spun and and decided to just let it ride. "Listen. Let's just get this over and done with, okay? It would appear that I'm your dad. Me and Elena... Did she tell you I was your dad?"

Swallowing hard, Remi had to fight against the urge to run away and hide. The man was supposed to be his father, but he kept radiating restlessness and anger! Struggling to find his voice, Remi stuttered a weak apology. "She didn't talk much about you..."

There was a flicker of hurt in Reno's eyes.

"She said it was too painful." Remi hurried to add. "She waited every day for you to come back..."

Reno swallowed hard. "So, it's true? A car accident?"

"Yeah..."

"Rufus says... if we do this right, we might change things." Reno's eyes were set on the horizon, distant, but he managed a faint smile before glancing over at the young boy at his side. "She didn't wait in vain, little buddy. Ain't gonna be no car accident, no."

A wild hope began to take hold in Remi's heart. "For real?"

"You calling your dad a liar?"

Remi shook his head fiercely. "No, sir!"

Flinching, Reno made a face. "Don't call me 'sir', kiddo. 'Sir' was my dad."

"So... what do I call you?"

Putting on his thoughtful face, Reno went through the options. None seemed to appeal to him. "How about, just for now, you call me 'Reno', okay?"

Strangely relieved after this odd conversation, Remi nodded eagerly. "Absolutely!"

Reno exhaled with cheerful relief. "Good!" And so he stalked off without warning.  
"Good!" Remi hurried to catch up. A short silence followed with the two trailing through the streets. "So, uh, where are we going?"

"To meet some people."

Rude greeted them with a nod from where he was waiting by the gates.

"Mount Ezo is three days away, kiddo. Ready for a road-trip?" Reno grinned like he was suggesting a three day bar binge.

Remi replied with a grin mirroring the other man. "Bring it on."

Closing his eyes briefly, Rude wondered what he'd done wrong to end up with not only one Reno, but, by the looks of it; two!

* * *

Days passed and they were all trying to keep busy until Reno and crew returned with news.

Placing the file on the desk, Hojo carefully glanced over at Rufus seemingly lost in whatever he was reading. Like always it took no more than two seconds before ShinRa knew he was being watched.

"What is it, Hojo?"

Hojo glanced around the room, as if to make sure they were truly alone and no one was hiding in the shadows, before he cleared his throat and casually placed his long fingers on a file and adjusted it to lie in line with the others. "I was just..." Closing his eyes, the scientist cursed himself for feeling so awkward. "How is he doing?"

Rufus smiled wearily. "Can't answer that question, Hojo."

Golden brown eyes narrowed and Hojo tensed. "Can't or won't?"

Straightening, Rufus leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "He hasn't left the church since he came here. Not once. And Aeris says he doesn't want to see anyone. So your guess is as good as mine."

Hojo shifted uneasily. "Can't you use your Sight...?"

A pained shadow flew over Rufus' face. He avoided Hojo's gaze, tensing visibly, before picking back up the paper he'd been reading. "I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," Hojo insisted quietly. He'd seen what the Sight had done to Rufus ShinRa, even been there to calm Tifa when her husband had been in a apathetic state for days, and to ask Rufus to seek that state willingly... "I didn't think. Good advertising for a genius, right?" Turning to leave, he was surprised when Rufus called out to him.

"I think Aeris was just in the main building. She brings him food at this hour, so you should catch her if you hurry."

Hojo glanced back and nodded a thanks before leaving the room. He almost hesitated, but quickly set course for the church before he could change his mind.

And seeing the shock on Aeris' face when she found him waiting outside the church was almost worth the unease he felt about doing this. "Dinner for two?"

Blinking, the flower girl suddenly seemed to remember the plate she was carrying and giggled softly. "No. It's just... just for him." She tried a brave smile. "What brings you here?"

"How is he?"

Aeris' smile died. She glanced over as some soldiers walked pass them. "I don't know what else to do, Hojo."

"Not good then, I take it," Hojo mumbled.

Aeris shook her head. "He won't leave the church, doesn't want to talk to anyone..." She freed one hand to wipe at her eyes. "I don't know what to do..."

Hojo squirmed, desperately searching for some way to escape the situation, while awkwardly patting her shoulder.

Aeris suddenly leaned back and stared at him.

* * *

Hojo frowned and yanked his hand back. "What?"

"You." Aeris shoved the plate at him. "You talk to him!"

Shaking his head, Hojo backed up a step while balancing the plate he was suddenly holding. "Wait. No. You said he didn't want to talk to anyone."  
"Since when did you scare easily?" Aeris shoved him towards the door. "Go talk to your son!" She opened the door and gave him a hard push.

Stumbling inside, almost dropping the plate, Hojo spun around and stared at the door being slammed in his face and consequently found himself trapped inside.

When ten seconds of furious staring did not convince the door to open itself, he slowly turned around and inspected the area.

Empty.

Hojo inched forward until he saw the first glimmer of silver hair. Sephiroth sat by the altar with a distant look in his eyes that soon turned into surprise when he noticed the person in the church was not Aeris.

There was a suffocating silence with the two staring at each other. Hojo finally broke and held out the plate. "Food."

Sephiroth slowly reached out and accepted it. "Thanks."

More suffocating silence. Hojo staring at the ceiling. Sephiroth staring at the floor.

Once again, Hojo failed to suffer the quiet. Clearing his throat, he reached out and touched one of the white flowers standing in a vase on the altar. "Aeris is worried about you. Says you're not doing so good."

Sephiroth turned his face away but remained silent.

Hojo shifted uncomfortably and snorted a laugh. "I don't even know why she sent me in here. I suck at this." He flung out his hands in a resigned gesture. "I've always sucked at this!" The dark haired man picked up the flower he'd examined and absently began pulling off the petals while turning to lean against the altar. "Even when you were little." He waved the half-stripped flower in Sephiroth's direction, without actually looking at him, and so didn't notice his son turning his gaze back to actually pay attention. "Some times, when you were still a baby, you'd start crying. For hours! You didn't need the Masamune back then, you had that screaming. I never knew how to shut you up."

Sephiroth focused entirely on Hojo now.

Smiling bitterly, Hojo returned to tear off the petals and watched them swirl towards the ground. "Of course, Gast had no problems. He'd pick you up and you'd be all smiles. Even Leo's horrid singing would make you laugh. But never me." The ruined flower fell uselessly to the floor before Hojo stomped down hard on it and ground his heel to destroy any resemblance to it's previous beauty. "So you see, I don't know how to do the feeling-better-thing. What I feel like doing is telling you to get your act together, stop acting like you're still a baby, but something tells me that is probably not the right thing to say at the moment..."

The corner of Sephiroth's lips tugged at a smile.

Hojo sighed and rubbed his neck awkwardly. "I'll tell Aeris that you need more time, okay?"

"Who was Leo?" Sephiroth asked, meeting Hojo's startled gaze.

"He, ah, Leo was... I worked with him when I first joined ShinRa," Hojo stuttered. "Me and Lu. Worked with him."

"Tell me," Sephiroth insisted.

"About Leo?" Hojo blinked confused.

Sephiroth managed a faint smile. "About what happened back then..."

Inhaling, Hojo considered the request...

* * *

_AN: She lives! Yes, she lives! _

_I have always promised myself that I would never become 'one of those', who start writing a story and just wander off to leave it unfinished to any readers great distress. Guess what I became? Tsk tsk on me!_

_Anyhow, a huge thank you to Cathartic Trance and ThunderCrash for giving me the extra inspiration I needed to get back to my writing again! But a massive thanks to anyone who ever left me a review. I suck, I know._

_So, to everyone who can still be bothered to read this or even remember this story exist, expect the next update tomorrow!_

_~Sulphurya~  
_


	10. Barret

**9. Barret**

_"Run, damn you! Run!" His voice was almost gone now due to all the screaming, but he knew the second they slowed down; they were all dead. Gone. From this place and everyone's memories._

_A young man, what was his name, almost lost balance and sent Barret a grateful nod as his human hand locked around his upper arm and kept him on his feet._

_Keep running._

_It was all the hope they had._

_Horrible sounds could be heard behind them, but Barret knew it would be better not to look back._

_He'd seen too much already and there was nothing, NOTHING, he could do._

_"Where the hell is our backup?" The young man exclaimed in desperation._

_Barret could barely hear him through the chaos. "I dunno!" He heard someone fire a gun but it only lasted for a few seconds._

_Nothing could kill or slow down what was chasing them._

_They'd heard stories, but no one really believed them, so when Barret and his group came upon the single man defending the fortress, everyone had foreseen an easy victory._

_How was it possible to be so wrong?_

_Even the air had a foul smell of something unnatural and their lungs were fighting to get enough oxygen to sustain their desperate escape._

_"RUN!"_

_If reinforcements appeared, Barret had no doubt that they could do little but flee with them. _

_Guns. Swords. Arrows._

_Nothing hurt this thing._

_It just kept chasing them._

_Until this, they had declared Sephiroth as their biggest concern._

_Barret knew that was no longer the case._

_Still, maybe he should have known? Why leave a single man behind to defend a fortress vital to their defensive line? Unless that man alone is capable of wiping out an entire army._

_Cloud had warned Barret about Joy. He now understood why._

_"Keep running! Don't look back!"_

_A flicker of grey smoke danced in his peripheral vision. _

_Not fast enough._

_"Faster, dammit! Run faster!"_

_Too late? No. _

_Blocking out the sounds, Barret reached out his human hand to the mountain wall by their side. He did not flinch as the explosion shook the ground and an avalanche of rocks tumbled down towards them._

_

* * *

  
_

At the sound of footsteps, Vincent opened his weary eyes. He'd been sitting on the floor, leaning his head back against the hard mountain wall for hours now, torn between relief at possessing his own body and fear that Chaos would return.

The dancing light from the torches revealed chestnut hair and the usual white coat.

"Lucrecia," Vincent greeted in a hoarse voice.

Managing an awkward smile, the scientist knelt down beside him. "Vincent." She carefully rolled up the sleeve on his shirt. "How are you feeling?"

Vincent turned his face away. "Tired." He tried not to linger at the feeling of her fingers on his skin.

"I'll just get these blood samples and I'll be out of your way." Lucrecia spoke light and fast, as always, with the fateful meeting in Midgar hanging thick in the air between them.

The hateful words she'd thrown at him, still true but filled with a venom she did no longer feel. The quiet pain and Vincent's refusal to return the venom made things even worse.

Lucrecia stole a quick study of what she could see of his face and she could see the echoes of his battles with Chaos. The demon was wearing him down, but the former Turk was even stronger than she'd ever dared to hope he would be.

The perfect guardian for the Planet's secret weapon.

"I see your daughter finally left?" Lucrecia tried another smile as she was finishing up.

Dawn spent most of her time either trying to encourage her father or trying to stay unaffected by Chaos' verbal attacks, and even her own mother failed at persuading her otherwise.

A ghost of a laugh escaped from Vincent's lips. "With a firm declaration that she would be back." He finally turned his face back to look at the woman by his side. "I think she might be as stubborn as you..."

Choking out a laugh, Lucrecia quickly avoided his red eyes. "Oh, I seem to remember you as being pretty stubborn too. Rain is no push-over either."

Vincent did not flinch. "She's angry with me, Lucrecia. Not you."

Lucrecia snorted amused and straightened. "One day you'll understand, like I did, the value of what you had and lost in a foolish hunt for something you thought was better. And then you will spend the rest of your life knowing you'd give anything to have it back."

Vincent turned his face away again.

Sighing, Lucrecia focused on the warm vials of blood in her hand. "You're a good man, Vincent, no matter what you think. You need to let go of the past, that's all."

* * *

Every breath was a struggle, both for the oxygen and the effort to keep the noise down to a minimum. Peering around a corner, seeing no one, he leaned his head back against the wall and allowed himself a deep gulp of air.

That's when cold metal gently touched by his temple. A gun?

Freezing with dread, he swallowed hard while a drop of sweat slowly trailed down the side of his face. He'd been so sure he'd lost them! There was no way the guards could have followed him all the way here! It was impossible!

"I'm amazed you're still alive, fatman," a familiar voice drawled. "If the bad guys failed to put a bullet in ya, I would've thought all this running would've been the end of you."

Reno the Turk prodded the nightstick a little harder at his prisoner's temple, but an actual gun muzzle against his neck stopped the next words on his lips.

"You know, Reno, with all your drinking and smoking, I was thinking that exact same thought about you when you were on that mission last week!"

Biggs met the furious glare with a bright and cheerful smile. "Now back off and if you ever talk to him like that again, I 'will' shoot you. Cool?"

Reno lowered his weapon, carefully stepped away from the gun, and sent him a tight smile. "Whatever you say, Slick." He barely managed to keep from rolling his eyes in disgust as Wedge eyed his saviour with nothing less than awe. "HQ says for you two to return to camp."

Twirling the gun around his index finger, Biggs gave a nod towards the forest. "Who are your friends?"

"Me and Rude."

"And?" The smile never left Biggs' face, but his eyes grew dark with caution.

Sighing, Reno shifted awkwardly. "The kids arrived. You heard that, right?"

Wedge blinked wide-eyed. "You brought them here?"

"Not all of them, you idiot," Reno scoffed. "Just one." Then he and Wedge had to trot to catch up with Biggs already strolling towards the tree-line.

Remi barely had time to ask Rude who the two were and have it confirmed that they were actually on the same team, (and Reno and Biggs just tended to threaten each others lives on a daily basis) then he had the two strangers staring at him.

Biggs leaned forward, studying the boy, then straightened again. "You never said you had a son!"

Reno shifted awkwardly. "I didn't know..."

Torn between a strange happiness that Reno would actually acknowledge him as his son in public and the eerie feeling of being studied like a lab-rat, Remi managed to give Biggs a faint nod. "Hello..."

Bigg's grin grew impossibly wide on his face. "Well! This is just... shiny!"

* * *

Staring at the horizon, Cloud did not acknowledge Tifa stepping up beside him on the cliff but she knew he was aware of her.

Lush green plains stretched out as far as they could see with a clear blue sky smiling down at them.

"It looks so peaceful," Tifa finally said in a soft and yet wistful voice.

"Looks can be deceiving, as we should know by now," was the sombre answer.

Gazing over at her childhood friend, taking in the grim face, Tifa felt like reaching out and gently caress the harsh lines away from his expression, but Cloud had grown so distant until she now felt she could no longer touch him and nor did he want her to.

He'd taken the betrayal harder than anyone else. Not once, but twice.

Turning to stare out at the grasslands again, Tifa crossed her arms to prevent herself from touching him by habit. "Rufus said they would be back tomorrow..."

"Good." Cloud's voice revealed absolutely nothing about his state of mind, but Tifa knew him too well.

"We can win this!" Tifa stated stubbornly.

Cloud still would not look at her, seemingly lost in whatever his eyes were searching for in that endless horizon. "The war, maybe." But he could never forget the battles they had lost to win this war.

Sighing, Tifa lowered her gaze to the ground as she turned and walked away. There was no use talking to him when he was like this.

Reaching the ground level, she started when she nearly walked into Cid.

"How is he?" The pilot stuck his chin out towards the path leading up to the cliff.

Tifa shook her head.

Grunting, Cid motioned her to walk with him back to the main-building. "Just leave the man be. You know how Grumpy McGrumpy-pants he can be."

Tifa giggled against her will. "It just hurts to see him like this, Cid. He really blames himself, you know..."

The blonde man hesitated before he shoved his hands into his pockets and hunched his shoulders defensively. "Yeah, well, ain't no one could've know that was gonna happen... Spike better just let bygones be bygones. Ain't no good fussing over it now." He ignored the puzzled look Tifa sent him. "Once we get them AVALANCHE fools back here, we gotta be prepared for some action. They're gonna know we're up to something when we're gathering all our crew back here!"

"Just what we need," Tifa mumbled. She nibbled her lip before she dared to ask. "How is Sephiroth?"

"Out and about, that's the main thing. Still pretty shook up, seems like, but can't blame the guy," Cid said. "If you're asking if he's gonna be fit for fightin'... I gotta admit I ain't real sure. He'll fight, al right, but Ifrit knows what'll do to him."

* * *

_AN: So there you have it, short and sweet, consider it a bonus chapter as an apology for my absence!_

_I'm amazed there are still anyone around who remember this fic and it's little author, but you guys who took the time to let me know you still want to read this (City of Dis, Shinz, Dark'nLightAngel) thank you so much! Your reviews inspired me so much that next update shouldn't be more than a day or two away! And I'm sorry to hear this fic is not turning out to be to your taste, Silvara, but I'm back to enjoying writing it at least!_

_~Sulphurya~  
_


	11. Aeris

**10. Aeris**

_They were all dying around her._

_The once peaceful land was suddenly ravaged by strangers with swords and horrible magic abilities and people began to die._

_- Where are you, Sephiroth?_

_Aeris kneeled by a young man, closed her eyes as she placed her hands over the deep wound to his chest and prayed for the pain to end._

_She heard the villagers gasp in amazement at the white light, the soothing of pain and the salvation from certain death._

_- Are you hurt, Sephiroth?_

_She wants to search for him, but if she does... the villagers will die._

_A hundred strangers lives for the life of a loved one? She doesn't want to make that choice. It would probably kill her._

_- I'm so alone, Sephiroth. Are you?_

_She spends her days in the church, healing the sick and wounded, loathing herself for not doing more. She should be fighting too, but she doesn't know against whom._

_She should be out looking for him! ...but she doesn't know where to start._

_- Sephiroth... I miss you..._

_Sometimes she dreams about him, more often than not, and the dreams leave her nauseas and frightened. She dreams he is trapped somewhere dark. She wakes with his voice calling her name._

_But they are only dreams, right?_

_- I need you to tell me what to do, Sephiroth!_

_She has to leave, she knows it is the only way. The villagers will never forgive her, but that's al right, because she will never forgive herself for leaving them defenceless as well. _

_But if she doesn't leave, doesn't search for him, she simply won't forgive herself, no, she won't be able to live with herself._

_- I'm scared, Sephiroth..._

_They beg her to stay, plead and cry, but she can't._

_On the final night, the village is attacked again. Aeris freezes with horror as she sees several faces from the past. _

_And the next day, he finds her._

_Aeris' heart leaps when she sees the familiar figure in the doorway and she immediately scouts for him as well. Disappointment tastes sour, but at least she has hope now._

_Cloud will will help her._

_She will find him. Even if it takes forever or costs her her life._

_- Together in life or together in death, Sephiroth. _

_

* * *

  
_

They could hear the arguing from distance and Raito sent Jessie a quizzical look.

Her face lit up with happiness and Jessie tugged him along as she ran towards the door. "They're back!"

Stumbling along, trying to keep up, Raito cast a longing glance back at the sword he'd been given by Reeve and the pretty lady. "Who's back?"

"Biggs and Wedge!" Jessie exclaimed as they came into the courtyard and found the small group of people where the arguing had come from.

The two Turks were there, a bright-faced Remi and two strangers. A small fat one and a taller dark haired one. Both had the red bandanna trademark as Jessie.

She barely remembered to let go of her son before she ran over and threw her arms around Biggs. "I missed you guys! Are you okay?"

Laughing, Biggs wrapped his own arms around her, lifted her up and spun her around. "Of course!"

"We would've been here yesterday if not for fatman there," Reno grumbled, narrowing his eyes in a silent dare to the gun Biggs suddenly pointed at him without taking his mirth-filled eyes off Jessie.

Wedge swallowed hard. "I-I'm sorry..."

Disentangling herself from Biggs, absently swatting the gun down from aiming at Reno to pointing at the ground, Jessie moved over to hug Wedge. "Don't listen to him. It's so good to have you back!"

"I fear the most frightful about Reno is his manners," Rufus ShinRa's voice drawled. "Or should I say lack of?"

Reno placed a hand to his chest as he stared over at his boss sauntering out into the courtyard as well. "You wound me, boss!"

"You'll survive, I'm sure," Rufus said, halting in front of the newly arrivals. "Welcome back, AVALANCHE. I hope you had a safe journey?"

Biggs shrugged with a grin. "Just shiny, sir. Nothing we couldn't handle."

Rufus nodded. "I'm glad to hear that."

"What about you, sir?" Biggs' smile had a touch of concern. "You up for a meeting?"

While still too pale to be considered healthy, Rufus felt better than he had been when the two had left Valhall for their mission. "Been dying for a meeting."

Jessie rolled her eyes when Biggs sidled up to her and asked her if she had changed her mind about joining. "Your little club is mean and childish. You should be ashamed of yourselves."

"What club?" Raito asked.

"The We-Hate-Cloud-Strife club!" Wedge beamed happily.

* * *

Starting, Raito glared angrily at him. "Hey! That's my father you're talking about, you know!" He then blinked when an arm slid around his shoulders and Biggs leaned real close.

"We won't hold that against ya."

Batting his arm away, Raito kept glaring daggers. "Have you all gone mental or something?"

"There's a We-Hate-Cloud-Strife club?" Yet another new voice chimed in.

They all turned to see a curious Sephiroth staring at them as well as a furious Aeris behind him.

Biggs gawped, Wedge hid behind Biggs and Rufus nodded with a smile. "Care to join?"

Aeris glared over at Sephiroth. "Don't you dare..."

But seeing the first glimmer of mirth in his eyes since his return, the flower girl did not have the heart to throw a fit when Sephiroth eagerly walked over to them and asked where he signed up!

Aeris walked over to Jessie with an embarrassed look. "I'm sorry... I really am... He's just..."

Sending her a dry smile, Jessie shrugged. "If it brings them joy..."

Raito stomped his foot angrily. "That's the most stupid club I've ever heard of! My dad is awesome!"

"Listen, Junior," Biggs spoke up, "I died trying to save the planet you grew up on. Wedge too. We were members of AVALANCHE long before your dad showed up. And when people talk about the heroes of AVALANCHE... Well, you ever heard of Biggs and Wedge?"

Raito slowly shook his head.

Biggs grinned again. "There ya go!"

"But," Raito objected, "that is not my dad's fault!"

Shrugging, Biggs pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Also, I've had a mad crush on Jessie, your mom, since I was about five years old."

Raito flinched and covered his ears. "Eech! I did not need to know that!"

Laughing, Biggs shrugged again. "It's true!"

A few moments later, they stalked off towards the meeting room and left only Jessie, Aeris and Raito behind.

"They don't really hate him?" Raito asked quietly.

"No," Aeris and Jessie said simultaneously.

The flower girl placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "They just need to vent and Cloud is the only one strong enough to carry the burden."

"Your idiot father was the one who suggested they'd form the club himself," Jessie added.

Okay... First Cid Jr and Robin... Now his father founded clubs dedicated to hating his guts... Clearly a person went insane after spending a certain amount of time here!

* * *

Rain carefully wrapped her hands around the cup of tea she'd been nursing for the last hour. Lost in deep thought, she didn't notice someone approaching until a person sat down on the opposite side of the table.

Glancing up, she blinked in surprise as she found herself facing Lucrecia.

"Okay, here's the thing," Lucrecia began before the woman could open her mouth, "we've been tip-toeing around each other since we arrived here and I'm kind of sick of it, you know?"

Rain breathed a laugh and nodded.

Reassured by the reaction, Lucrecia drew a deep breath and studied the table as she decided to say what she'd come to say. "About Vincent..."

Tensing against her will, it took all of Rain's willpower not to get up and walk away from the table. "Yes...?"

"Me and Vincent... It's in the past," Lucrecia continued, "we... It wasn't..."

Rain drew a finger slowly along the rim of her cup. "Do you love him?"

Lucrecia shrugged. "I suppose. Like you love an old friend, a painful mistake, and someone who deserved so much better than being treated like he was..." She shook her head and made herself glance over at the dark haired woman opposite of her. "Whatever is between me and Vincent is not love, Rain. He loves you. Me and him, we just keep hurting each other."

"So why can't he let you go?"

"We went through a lot," was the silent reply from an unusual subdued Lucrecia, clearly uncomfortable with remembering the past, "me, Vincent... Hojo... And then Sephiroth. It's a bond you can't easily break, no matter how much you want to."

The words spoken and words left unspoken hung heavily in the air between the two women.

Finally Rain nodded and glanced over. "I think I understand..."

There were still so many things she did not know about their mysterious past, so many questions she wanted to ask, but there were probably no answers that would put her unease to rest and some she probably did not want to hear.

"One question?" Rain requested.

Lucrecia nodded.

"Why Chaos? If you loved him, if you had any feelings for him at all, why did you seal Chaos inside him?"

"I had to make a choice," Lucrecia said in a distant voice, as if she was reliving the memory. "I knew I was losing my mind, could feel Jenova take over, and I needed to hide the demon somewhere safe. You see, Chaos is our hope to stop Omega!"

Rain frowned confused. "Omega...?"

* * *

_AN: I did it again! I went MIA! *seppuku*_


End file.
